Promotion of Indian culture has breathed new life into the country’s tourism industry.

Indian Sanatan culture, civilization and traditions are considered to be the most ancient in the world. Indian culture has also been considered the mother of other cultures of the world. India’s culture and civilization has remained immortal with its traditional existence since ancient times. India has a huge collection in the field of songs, music, drama tradition, folk tradition, religious rites, rituals, painting and writing, which is known as the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In recent times, great efforts are being made to cherish, beautify and improve it.

Especially in the last decade, continuous efforts have been made to spread the culture of India, due to which not only the people of the world have got the fragrant fragrance of the country’s soil, but the whole world is also trying to know and understand the Indian culture. . India’s past has been more beautiful and impressive than its present. Sun Temple of Konark, Meenakshi Temple of Madurai, Kailash Temple of Ellora, Varad Raja Temple in Kanchipuram, supernatural form of Surya Temple in Mudera and construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Baba Vishwanath Dham Corridor in Kashi, Mahalok Corridor in Ujjain, Kedarnath Dham. The redevelopment of the holy Dera Baba Nanik is giving a new dimension to the cultural splendor of India in the form of Kartarpur Sahib Corridor. Apart from this, other tourist circuits including Ramayana Circuit, Boudh Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit are also being developed.

There are 40 World Heritage Sites in India, of which 32 are cultural sites, 7 are natural sites and 1 is a mixed site. Apart from this, about 3000 monuments under the supervision of the government have been declared as Moments of National Importance. The mission of the Ministry of Culture of India is to promote, promote and disseminate all forms of art and culture. The functions of the Ministry of Culture are- preservation of historical sites and ancient monuments, management and administration of libraries, promotion of literary, visual and performing arts, celebration of centenaries of important national figures and events, promotion of institutions of Buddhist and Tibetan studies, art and culture. Making private partnerships for the field of tourism, making cultural agreements with other countries, cultural exchange at the international level, creating cultural awareness. The Ministry of Culture is discharging all the above mentioned tasks very well. Many milestones have been added in the field of cultural heritage of India during the last decade.

The Cultural Ministry of India has introduced many innovations. Like, e-ticketing facility, starting India’s must-see monuments and archaeological sites portal, allowing photography in all centrally protected monuments, doing satellite mapping of ASI monuments in collaboration with ISRO, making efforts for the return of Indian statues that have gone abroad. , declaring monuments and archaeological sites polythene free, starting a cashless tool for tourists, creating buzz around Indian celebrations and festivals abroad, rapid development of museum culture in the country, etc. Soon the Yuge-Eugeen National Museum is also going to be dedicated to the country, which will be the largest museum of the country.

It has been more than 7 decades since the country gained political independence and we have recently celebrated Amrit Kaal after 75 years of independence. The official journey of Azadi Ke Amrit Mahotsav started on 12 March 2021. Which started the counting of 75 weeks for the 75th anniversary of our independence, which continued with the celebrations. Meanwhile, a long series of celebrations continued and the Yatra continued uninterrupted till 15 August 2023. More than 166,000 programs were organized in the country and the world during the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. In which many big programs like Tiranga in every house, Vande Bharatam, Kalanjali were also included.

Amrit Mahotsav has five pillars – Freedom Struggle @ 75, Thoughts @ 75, Solutions @ 75, Actions @ 75, Achievements @ 75. The Amrit Mahotsav of Independence, being celebrated with public participation, is an effort to present the achievements of these 75 years of the country in front of the whole world and along with this, an outline of resolutions is also being laid for the next 25 years.

Tourism emerges as a great color of India’s cultural heritage. India is a country of diversity. It is a multicultural and diverse nation. Despite the diversity of culture, civilization, heritage, festivals, celebrations, worship, cuisine, dialect, language, etc., the country of India is one and unbreakable. These characteristics not only give India a special identity but also make India special in front of the whole world.

The Corona epidemic had forced the entire world economy to kneel and the sting of Corona had blunted the pace of tourism. The Government of India has found opportunities in the challenges and has breathed new life into the tourism industry, due to which the Indian tourism industry is now touching new heights. Tourism in India looks quite different from before. Tireless efforts have been made to take tourism to new heights. Tourist destinations have been developed, facilities have been expanded, transportation has been facilitated, infrastructure has been developed. Many other efforts have also been made. Incredible India, Visa on Arrival, Prasad Yojana, Dekho Apna Desh, Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat, Green Tourism Mission, Swadesh Darshan Yojana, Cleanliness Campaign, Clean Tourism App, Adopt a Heritage, Ramayana Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Budelkhand Circuit, Dharamshala Manifesto (2022) As new schemes have been started.

The Central Government has prepared a draft National Tourism Policy focusing on green and digital tourism. In this, the tourism sector in the country is being developed on the lines of development and heritage. Tourism has been given the status of industry in the National Tourism Policy. In which special emphasis is being laid on green tourism and digital tourism. The hospitality sector is being made more efficient. Along with this, micro, small and medium enterprises are being promoted. Efforts are being made to provide relief in the tax structure for tourism while promoting ease of tourism. Crores of rupees are being spent in the country for tourism development. This year a budget of Rs 50,000 crore has been set on this item. The first 5 lakh tourists visiting the country will be provided free visas. Efforts are being made to develop tourism on public private partnership model. E-Visa service facility has been started. Efforts are being made to place India among the top 5 countries of the world by the year 2030. Sustainable, responsible and inclusive tourism is being promoted.

With the aim of promoting tourism, India has declared the year 2023 as Visit India Year. In this context, the present government has made a lot of efforts to attract foreign tourists. Its main objective is to achieve the target of inbound tourism. In recent years there has been a significant improvement in inbound tourism. Indian tourism is going to be among the fastest growing countries in the next few years. According to the World Economic Forum, India has jumped 25 places in the last 4 years in the competitiveness index related to tourism. India has been ranked 54th among 117 countries in the Travel and Tourism Development 2022 list by the World Economic Forum. India has become the top performing country in South Asia. The tourism sector is also attracting foreign direct investment to India today. There has been a substantial increase in the number of domestic and foreign tourists in the field of tourism in India. The tourism industry in India is an important employment generating sector and is also a main source of foreign exchange for the country. 5.30 crore employment opportunities have been created in tourism related industries. A target has been set to create 14 crore employment opportunities in the next 5 years.

-Prahlad Sabnani

Retired Deputy General Manager

state Bank of India