After terror attacks, tourism ministry woos foreign tourists

The department of tourism made an all-out effort to woo back intenational tourists with a vigorous Visit India campaign at the International Tourism Exchange (ITB) at Berlin held from 11 to 15 March.

The campaign is a joint initiative by the government and the tourism industry to win back international visitors who have stayed away since the terror attacks in Mumbai last November, says tourism secretary Sujit Banerjee.

The Visit India campaign 2009 was made in collaboration with private sector tourism industry stakeholders in the country including hotels and airlines. The campaign offers various complimentary packages developed by airlines and hotels.

The 850-sq metre India Tourism pavillion had 81 participants that included state tourism boards, hotels and airlines.

State tourism boards from Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Orissa, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand participated with India Tourism in the ventue.

Madhya Pradesh promoted the Kanha National Park, Badhavagarh National Park and Pench National Park at ITB Berlin. Similarly, Jammu & Kashmir promoted Ladakh at ITB-Berlin with a view to drawing more tourists to the region.

Other states that participated independently at ITB-Berlin were.

According to the estimates of the India Tourism Office, after averaging 10 per cent growth up to September, international tourist arrivals to India slumped to around 5.6 per cent in 2008 to 5.37 million visitors, dropping to over 17 per cent in January, 2009.

The airlines participating in the campaign, Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines will offer a "companion-free ticket" for every ticket purchased for international and domestic flights. Connecting flights to the departing airports are included in the final travel costs.