Union Minister of Tourism highlights initiatives undertaken by India at UNWTO Minister’s Summit at WTM 2009

According to a PIB release, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Minister’s Summit on ‘Tourism: Tackling Global Crisis’ was held at the World Travel Market in London. The Indian delegation which participated for the Summit was lead by Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Tourism. Addressing the distinguished gathering, Selja said that the ongoing global economic slowdown had a cascading effect on the tourism sector and has adversely affected tourism worldwide. She highlighted major initiatives taken by India to meet the challenges. She mentioned that the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) introduced a scheme called ‘Visit India Year – 2009’ in close partnership with airlines, hotels and tour operators to attract visitors to India from different countries. She said promotional efforts in key source markets have been enhanced through important global events, road shows and outdoor advertising campaigns. Selja added that India is also making conscious efforts to develop emerging short and medium haul markets and for this, development and promotion of the Buddhist circuits is being carried out.