New Delhi: Post the COVID-19 situation in India, the focus of the Ministry of Tourism will be on promoting offbeat destinations and activities such as eco-tourism, wellness retreats and mountaineering among others, minister Prahlad Patel said on Tuesday.
He said this while virtually addressing the G20 Tourism Ministers' Meeting held in Italy, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
Patel said India has a strong and vibrant system of traditional medicines, which provide for holistic healing and the ministry seeks to bring in tourists for this.
He congratulated Italy's Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia and the government of the European country for holding the G20 Tourism Ministers' Meeting in these difficult times and thanked him for bringing together the member States for a dialogue to collaborate in protecting tourism businesses, jobs and taking initiatives to frame policy guidelines to support the sustainable and resilient recovery of travel and tourism.
Patel appreciated and supported the focus of the Italian G20 Presidency on recovery and ensuring new opportunities for people, the planet and prosperity by putting in place guidelines on the seven key interrelated policy areas -- safe mobility, crisis management, resilience, inclusiveness, green transformation, digital transition and investment and infrastructure, which are comprehensive and relevant for resilient, sustainable and inclusive tourism.
He also conveyed India's support to the principles for a transition to a green travel-and-tourism economy, submitted by the UNWTO as a further contribution to the policy area of "Green Transformation" for embracing sustainability in tourism.
"The ministry's focus would be on promoting off-beat destinations and places such as nature and eco-tourism, wildlife, wellness retreats, mountaineering and trekking among others. Besides, India has a strong and vibrant system of traditional medicines, which provide for holistic healing.
"India would like to offer to the world, post COVID-19, calm, peace and health through yoga, Ayurveda and other forms of traditional treatments and spiritual surroundings. I am optimistic that the tourism sector would fully recover from the impact of COVID-19 disruption and emerge stronger post COVID with the rollout of vaccination programmes across the countries," the statement quoted Patel as saying.
