Focus: GS-III Indian Economy, Economic Development
Why in news?
The Finance Ministry’s move to cut down the budgetary allocation for the Tourism Ministry in the 2019 financial year will ‘seriously jeopardise’ the targeted tourism outcomes during 2020-21, a Parliamentary panel has said in its report.
Details
- The huge mismatch between the projected demand for funds and actual allocations made for the Ministry of Tourism for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20 as well.
- The pattern of shortfall in allocation of funds indicated that budgetary requirements were being projected by the ministry more on the basis of theoretical anticipation rather than on actual trend of requirement.
| SWADESH DHARSHAN | PRASAD SCHEME |
| Swadesh dharshan is a theme based tourist circuit‘s development scheme. | The scheme is a National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) under Ministry of Tourism. |
| Under the Swadesh Darshan scheme, the following thematic circuits have been identified, for development namely: North-East India Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Desert Circuit, Tirtankar circuit, Tribal Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Sufi circuit, Ramayana Circuit and Heritage Circuit. | Under the PRASAD scheme thirteen sites have been identified for development, namely: Amritsar, Ajmer, Dwaraka, Mathura, Varanasi, Gaya, Puri, Amaravati, Kanchipuram, Vellankanni, Kedarnath, Kamakhya and Patna. |
| In the ̳Spiritual Circuit‘ identified under the Swadesh Darshan scheme; the thrust is on development of particular thematic circuit consisting of various religious/spiritual destinations in a State and Union Territory. | Under the ̳PRASAD‘ scheme the focus is on development and beautification of the identified pilgrimage destinations |
Adopt a Heritage Project:
- It is an initiative of the Ministry of Tourism, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and the Archaeological Survey of India.
- It entails encouraging students, public sector and private organisations to participate more actively in the maintenance of Indian heritage.
- Under the scheme, government invites public sector companies, private sector firms as well as individuals, to develop selected monuments and heritage and tourist sites across India.
Incredible India 2.0 Campaign:
- President of India launched Incredible India 2.0 campaign and ―Adopt a Heritage‖ project on the occasion of World Tourism Day.
- The campaign will focus on developing at least 10 cities where the spirituality quotient, medical and wellness potential will be promoted.
- At present cities from UP — Ayodhya, Agra, Mathura, Varanasi-Sarnath, and Gorakhpur, Haryana – Kurukshetra, Assam – Guwahati, and Tamil Nadu – Kanyakumari have been identified for developing tourist circuits.
Jobs in the Tourism Industry:
India has created over 13.92 million jobs in the tourism sector, with over 10 million in education and health sectors. As per the data shared by the Minister of State for Tourism, the tourism sector contributed an estimated 5.06 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country during 2016-17.
- The gap will be 7.55 lakh in non-managerial level and 1.09 lakh in managerial cadre by 2020-21 in tourism and hospitality sector,” as per the data shared by the Ministry of Tourism.
- The medical tourism sector attracts around 4 million people every year for various health checkups and major surgeries, with a majority from neigbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, the Middle East and African countries.
- Further, the hospitality industry presents huge job opportunities for women, which are bound to increase as a lot of female travelers prefer solo trips
Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI)
- The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI), that covered 140 economies, measures the set of factors and policies that enable sustainable development of travel and tourism sector which contributes to the development and competitiveness of a country.
- Spain held on to the top spot in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (TTCR), which ranked 140 countries on their relative strengths in global tourism and travel.
Barrier-free tourism
In 2018, Kerala Government launched the barrier-free tourism project to make prime tourist spots in the state accessible for people with disabilities.
