Emboldened by the robust growth of 12.8 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals in the first quarter of calendar 2010, the Union Ministry of Tourism is looking ahead with optimism at the growth of the tourism industry. A Committee of secretaries has cleared the proposal foe single window clearance of hotel projects and this is to be posed for Cabinet approval soon, Kumari Selja, Union Minister for Tourism announced here today.

Inaugurating the third edition of The Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) 2010, at the historic City Palace, Kumari Selja struck a note of caution. “ It is absolutely imperative that we maintain the quality of facilities and services offered bringing them at par with the best in the world. We must keep pace with changing trends and requirements of the overseas travellers. We can ill afford to take continuing success and growth of the tourism sector for granted. We have to improve our products, plan carefully, refine our marketing strategy and bolster our efforts for sustainable growth of this vital industry.”

The three-day GITB 2010, a flagship event in the tourism calendar of the global travel industry, is being organised by FICCI, Union Ministry of Tourism and the Government of Rajasthan.

The Minister listed out the range of initiatives being taken by the government to put the tourism sector on a sound footing. We are focussing on renewed promotional efforts along with developing new products as well as creating and nurturing infrastructural facilities to enhance our existing products. The numerous initiatives for the promotion of tourism to India have resulted in development of unique products like rural, adventure, eco, wellness and medical, cruise, heliport, caravan and cruise tourism, although our USP still remains the incredible natural and cultural heritage of the country,” she declared.

On the occasion, the Minister released studies on inbound tourism by FICCI-Evalueserve, E tourism and Eco & Rural Tourism by FICCI-Yes Bank.

Ms. Bina Kak, Minister for Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, disclosed that the state government was gearing to give an exhilarating experience to the visitors for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October 2010 by beautifying cities, hosting of cultural programmes and upgrading tourism-related infrastructure.

Mr. Sujit Banerjee Secretary Tourism, Government of India, announced that the Centre held meeting with state governments to identify tourism projects that could be taken up on priority.

The inaugural session of GITB 2010 was also addressed by Dr. D D Lapang, Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Jainarayan Vyas, Tourism Minister of Gujarat, Mr. Nawang Jora, Tourism Minister of J & K, Ms. Usha Sharma, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Ms. Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee, Maharaj Jai Singh, Chairman, FICCI Rajasthan State Council, and Mr. Himmat Anand, Co-Chairman, FICCI Tourism Committee.