'Chalo India' global campaign, Kaziranga international mart key tourism events of 2024

New Delhi: Inauguration of the country's first sunken museum at the Humayun's Tomb complex in Delhi, launch of a global campaign that seeks to make diaspora members ambassadors of Incredible India and an international mart at Assam's Kaziranga were some of the highlights of the tourism sector in 2024.

With the upcoming Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj next year and a humongous number of pilgrims expected to gather in the holy city for the religious congregation, the tourism ministry is also eyeing to showcase and celebrate the cultural diversity of the country aiming to draw both domestic and international tourists.

Held every 12 years, the Maha Kumbh this time will be from January 13 to February 26.

The year also saw major changes in the top leadership of the ministry with senior BJP leader Gajendra Singh Shekhawat taking charge as the Union tourism minister after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections succeeding G Kishan Reddy who was allotted the portfolio of coal.

Soon after taking charge, he had said his ministry will contribute towards the vision of making a Viksit Bharat.

The year 2024 also saw the launch of 'Chalo India', a global campaign that seeks to make Indian diaspora members ambassadors of Incredible India.

The campaign has been implemented in the spirit of 'jan bhagidari' to encourage Indian diaspora members to invite their five "non-Indian friends to travel to India every year".

In his address at an event hosted on World Tourism Day here on September 27, Shekhawat had said that under this campaign, one lakh foreign tourists would be exempted from paying visa fee in coming times.

At the same event, he also said the government would soon release a "dedicated master list" of tourists sites for their holistic development, and asserted that this would be a new effort to bring unbelievable sites of 'Incredible India' on a global platform.

Besides, Shekhawat had announced the launch of an initiative by his ministry -- 'Paryatan Mitra and Paryatan Didi' spanning 50 tourism destinations across the country. These destinations include Sri Vijaya Puram (earlier Port Blair) in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bodhgaya in Bihar, Ahmedabad and Kevadia in Gujarat, Srinagar, Ranchi and Delhi.

Through this initiative, the ministry aims to elevate the overall experience for tourists in destinations, by having them meet 'tourist-friendly' people who are "proud ambassadors and storytellers for their destination".

In September, the minister had travelled to Brazil to attend the G20 Tourism Ministerial Conference in that country that then held the chair of the influential grouping.

On its sidelines, Shekhawat held bilateral talks with his Brazilian, Spanish and Saudi Arabian counterparts to discuss on enhancing cooperation in the tourism sector and people-to-people ties.

While there were several other events on the ministry's 2024 calendar, the other key highlight was the hosting of the 12th edition of the International Tourism Mart (ITM) held in Kaziranga from November 26 to November 29.

The Kaziranga National Park (KNP), home to the world's largest one-horned rhinoceros population and which has practically maintained its pristine natural beauty over half a century, was the showpiece of the latest edition of the ITM.

Located in Golaghat, Nagaon and Sonitpur districts of Assam, the KNP was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

This year is a "golden period" for the sector one can say, as the ITM happened months after Moidams -- the mound-burial system of the Ahom dynasty in Assam -- in Charaideo district was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, and then KNP completed 50 years as a national park, Mugdha Sinha, Director General, Tourism, in the ministry had said.

In another major development in November, ministry officials said that 40 projects worth over Rs 3,295 crore and spanning 23 states had received nod from the Centre for developing lesser-known destinations into iconic sites and promote a more balanced distribution of tourists across the country.

Some of the selected destinations include Rang Ghar in Assam's Sivasagar, Matsyagandha Lake in Bihar's Saharsa, proposed Town Square in Goa's Porvorim, and Orchha in Madhya Pradesh among others.

In July, the country's first sunken museum at the site of Humayun's Tomb complex -- a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- where the story of the Mughal emperor and lesser-known facets of his life comes alive, was inaugurated, magnifying the architectural and heritage allure of the 16th century mausoleum.

Shekhawat had inaugurated the new museum in the presence of Prince Rahim Aga Khan.

"Our cultural heritage is one of our greatest assets," Shekhawat had said in his address at the inauguration ceremony.

The ministry in December shared some data on foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) and foreign exchange earnings from tourism in 2023.

The number of FTAs in India during 2023 rose to 95 lakh from 77 lakh in 2014, registering a growth of 23.96 per cent, it said.

FTAs in India during January-June period in 2024 stood at nearly 4.78 million, with Bangladesh and the US being the top two source countries, according to official data issued by the Tourism Ministry here on the occasion of World Tourism Day, and figures had showed that inbound tourism in the country was trailing the pandemic levels.

The year also saw the launch of the First Cambodia-India Tourism Year during a ceremony in Delhi in June that was attended by many top officials of the tourism ministries of both the countries. The event also celebrated the commencing of the maiden flight service between Phnom Penh and New Delhi a day earlier.