New Delhi: India is attempting to liberalise visa procedures by adding nine countries to the 11 whose citizens are entitled to the document on arrival, yesteryears southern star Chiranjeevi, who has been given independent charge of tourism as a minister of state, said yesterday.
“We are trying to liberalise visa procedures by adding nine more countries to the existing 11 nations, visitors from which are given tourist visas on arrival,” he said at a packed press conference in his office. “The proposal is under active consideration,” he added.
Chiranjeevi, who looked confident in his new avatar despite his poor knowledge of Hindi, also said India has launched two new tourism campaigns the international “Find What You Seek” and the domestic “Go Beyond” - to attract new segments of foreign tourists to the country.
“Till now, the government was promoting India from the destinations and products point of view internationally. The Incredible India campaigns which we launched in 2002 have been incredibly successful. In our Take II of Incredible India, we are going to focus on consumers. It reflects a very important paradigm shift in our strategy to promote India both within and abroad,” he said
The new campaigns were launched at the World Travel Market (WTM) in
London from November 4 to 7, the minister said.
India also won three awards for being “Asia’s leading destination”, “Asia leading tourist attraction — Taj Mahal” and “Asia’s leading tourism board”, the minister saud.
Explaining the nature of the campaign, the minister said “Find What You Seek” will push foreign tourists to identify their “destination of delight” in India.
“Let it be heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventures, wildlife, culture, festivals, medical, wellness, MICE, religion or shopping, India offers something for everyone,” he said.
Chiranjeevi said to encourage domestic tourism and promote lesser known destinations, the government has launched “Go Beyond” campaign. “This campaign focuses on promoting lesser-known destinations to domestic tourists. My ministry is committed to increase the range of destinations and provide good connectivity through synergy of efforts,” he said.
IANS
