Hurray! 7.46mn FTAs in 2014
Forget 7 million, the FTAs in 2014 have now reached 7.46 million. speaks to the present Tourism Secretary and his predecessors about their thoughts on where tourism is now headed.
We are very happy with inbound figures touching the 7.46 million mark. Ever since its launch on November 27, 2014, more than 26,000 ETAs have been processed till the first week of January. And if the response continues, we expect the foreign tourist arrivals to double in the next three years. This is a great impetus for tourism and the Prime Minister in his speech at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas has again talked about tourism. Indian tourism has finally acquired the momentum where every two years you can expect an additional 1 million foreign tourists, and with a gamechanger like the eVisa, the growth will only be faster. If things remain the same and there are no untoward incidents, I expect the FTA to go up to 8 million in 2015. The 7.46 million figure that we have right now is provisional, once the real figures come out by March 2015, I expect this number to be around 7.5 million. This is great news. The new government is giving emphasis to tourism. Now is the right time to apply a synergistic approach to tourism, we need to have a single vision where all departments should work towards a common objective. The state governments should all be onboard. Hygiene is also important and campaigns like the
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan should help.