India 2018

80 India 2018
Affairs and Ministry of External Affairs for achieving the same. December, 2016
the 'e-visa' facility is available under 3 sub - categories i.e. 'e- Tourist Visa', e -
Business Visa' and 'e - Medical Visa'. 'E -Visa facility has been extended to the
nationals of 161 countries.
24x7 Toll Free Multi-Lingual Tourist Info Line
For providing information relating to Travel and Tourism to the domestic and
international tourists/visitors and for assisting them with advice while travelling
in India, a 24x7 toll free multi-lingual tourist info line in 10 international
languages besides Hindi and English is being run by the Ministry of Tourism.
The calls made by tourists (both international and domestic) while in India will
be free of charge. This service will be available on the number 1800111363 or on
a short code 1363. The international languages handled are Arabic, French,
German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish,
in addition to English and Hindi
Niche Products
Welcome cards for distribution at immigration counters to people arriving in
India were introduced with few guidelines on how to make their stay more safe
and comfortable. The aspect of 'seasonality' in tourism is a challenge. The
Ministry of Tourism has taken the initiative of identifying, diversifying,
developing and promoting niche products of the country. This is done in order
to overcome seasonality and to promote India as a 365 days destination, attract
tourists with specific interest, and to ensure repeat visits for the unique products
in which India has a comparative advantage. The niche products that have
been identified by the Ministry of Tourism include cruise, adventure, medical,
wellness, golf, polo, meetings incentives conferences and expositions (MICE),
ecotourism, film tourism and sustainable tourism.
National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board
A National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board has been set up to work as an
umbrella organisation to govern and promote medical tourism in India.
Task Force on Adventure Tourism
For development and promotion of adventure tourism, a task force on Adventure
Tourism was formed in 2016 to resolve the issues related to adventure tourism
which includes safety and security of tourists.
Hospitality Education
Setting in place the framework for supply of trained manpower is a challenge
facing the hospitality education. It has been the endeavour of the Ministry of
Tourism to put in place a system of training and professional education, with
necessary infrastructure support, capable of generating manpower sufficient
to meet the needs of the tourism and hospitality industry, both quantitatively