The minister, in reply to a query by member A. Elavarasan, said her ministry, through its Indiatourism offices overeseas, has launched a series of promotional activities to increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTA).

The gamut of activities include advertising, participation in travel fairs, exhibitions, road shows, India evenings, workshops, food and cultural carnivals, publication of brochures, inviting media personalities, tour operators and opinion-makers to visit the country under the hospitality programme of the ministry, she said.

In addition, a Visit India 2009 scheme has also been announced by the tourism ministry. The Marketing Devlopment Assistance Scheme of the ministry has been expanded to provide financial assistance to service providers for the promotion of medical and convention and conference tourism in the country, the minister said.

Citing statistics, Selja said the number of tourist arrivals between January-June 2009 was just 2.47 million, which was nearly 9.3 per cent the number for the corresponding period in 2008. The year 2008 clocked nearly 5.6 per cent increase in the number of FTA over 2007.

In reply to another question in the upper house, she said the tourism ministry had assessed that the capital and NCR would require 40,000 hotels rooms under different categories for the Commonwealth Games 2010.

She said properties (hotels) were being developed by various private agencies in the capital, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh to accommodate the visitors.

CROSSING THE HUMP: Foreign tourist arrivals rose year-on-year in June, for the first time in 6 months

The increase is marginal over last year but the upswing is raising a round of cautious cheers in the tourism ministry as foreign exchange earnings have also gone up by Rs 400 crore. The growth in demand could be part of the "green shoots" the Budget hopes to nurture and given tourism's links with the service sector, the figures are good news.

According to data collated by the tourism ministry, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) increased from 3.40 lakh in June 2008 to 3.41 lakh in June 2009 while forex has gone up from Rs 3,409 crore to Rs 3,801 crore for the same period.

"The growth in number of tourist arrivals is marginal but it has shown that Visit India campaign and our roadshows in various countries have made a difference. We have been able to curb the decline within six months. I will be happy if we can get 6 million tourists to visit India by year-end," tourism secretary Sujit Banerjee said.

Source: Times Of India Tourism turns the corner, foreign footfalls rise

"Initially there was 30-35% custom duty on water sports and ski equipment. The government's move to give a complete waiver from customs duty would bring down our cost of operation by about 15%. This will definitely be passed on to tourists," Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) president Tejvir Singh Anand said.

The tourism ministry was pitching for removal of import duty on adventure sports related equipment in the Union budget announced on Monday.

The ministry has also taken up the issue of opening more mountain peaks for trekking with the home ministry. Tourism minister Kumari Selja recently met the finance minister Pranab Mukherjee demanding several relief measures including removal of duty on sports equipment for the sector. The tourism ministry had, earlier, proposed to issue special mountaineering visa for foreign adventure tourists. Water and landbased adventure sports are fast becoming popular among tourists in the country.

Air-based sports such as para-sailing and paragliding are also gaining ground. Besides launching a scheme which would allow the companion of a tourist to fly free in collaboration with various airlines for foreign tourists, the tourism ministry tied up with hoteliers to provide tourists with additional stay in the country at low prices.

Cox & Kings is offering a special flight that would let enthusiasts witness the spectacle from up close for Rs 29,000-79,000. Says Cox & Kings executive director Arup Sen, "This is the first time we have attempted such a trip. We already have a number of bookings."

The three-hour flight will take off from New Delhi, fly towards and hover over Gaya during the duration of the eclipse. The aircraft will intercept the middle of the eclipse shadow at 41,000 feet. Those taking the right side windows will get to see the `sun side', while those sitting on the left side windows will see the `earth side' and the shadow on earth, Mr Sen adds.

Eclipses have caught the fancy of travellers from African and Western countries for long, but it has never before been a tourist's delight of such measure in India. The opportunity of drawing tourists with a six-and-ahalf minute, once-in-a-lifetime eclipse has been irresistible for travel firms, which are adding the spectacle to their regular tours.

Says Rajendra Singh, director of Incredible Real India Tour: "We have clubbed the eclipse with our regular tour packages to make them more interesting and exciting. We never thought it would turn out to be such a hit." The company will organise a special viewing in Varanasi for which regular travellers will not be charged extra.

In India, the eclipse will be visible in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.

If the current figures of foreign tourist arrivals ( FTA) are any indication, the debilitating effects of the monthslong economic slowdown and the terror attack in Mumbai in November are wearing off.

The latest FTA figure for the month of May stood at 295,124 people, which is almost on par with the figure of 300,840 in May 2008, a marginal decline of only 1.9 per cent. The FTA in May 2007 stood at 277,000 lakh people.

Between January 1 and April 30 this year, 1.83 million international tourists came to India, marginally lesser than the 2 million- plus arrivals during the same period last year.

As a tourism ministry official points out, " There has been a gradual improvement in the month- on- month growth rate of FTA in May 2009 (- 1.9 per cent) as compared to April 2009 (- 3.5 per cent), March 2009 (- 12.9 per cent) and January 2009 (- 17.5 per cent)." Further raising hope has been foreign exchange earnings ( FEE) from tourist arrivals in May -- Rs 3,249 crore as compared to Rs 2,988 crore in May last year, an increase of 8.7 per cent. Earnings in April had risen a modest 7.6 per cent over the corresponding figure last year. What's more, the industry had negative growth in previous months compared to 2008 figures.

Interestingly, while forex earnings in terms of rupees have gone up, the figures in dollars continue to show a decrease.

Source: Mail Today Hope Floats For Tourism Sector After May Surprise

Like Pereira, hundreds of other vacationers are being wooed by premium hotel operators this monsoon season with tempting offers, about 15-20 per cent cheaper than the regular rates.

Monsoon time for hotels is usually the lacklustre interval in a year, when room rates head south. With the hospitality sector still grappling with the impact of a general slowdown, many top hotel operators are offering free nights, discounts and budgetary packages to maintain occupancy.

Hotel Leelaventure, for instance, is offering a stay at its Kovalam property for just Rs 3,300 a night, as part of its monsoon getaway package. This is in addition to enticing offers in its other properties.

Premier companies like Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces, Oberoi Hotel & Resorts, ITC Welcome Group and Hyatt are throwing in a free night stay for every stay of at least two or three nights.

Marriott International Inc, meanwhile, is giving Rs 3,000 back to the customer, which could be spent on availing facilities within the hotel like the spa, gymnasium, lunch or dinner, among others.

Source: Business-standard Hoteliers Try To Counter Slump With Special Offers

"The X-visa holders would get inner line permits," he told ET. The fee for the proposed visa would be slightly lower than the normal tourist visas. The proposed visa holders can also stay for a longer period.

The government is also looking at opening more peaks in the Himalayas for trekking, a bid to satiate rising appetite of foreign mountaineers to scale new heights in remote corners of the country. Trekkers could now also use global positioning system (GPS) and satellite phones (currently banned) in the forbidden ranges falling in Indo-Pak, Indo-Tibet and Indo-China borders, which cover picturesque sites in Ladakh, J&K and Himachal Pardesh.

The tourism ministry has sent a note to the home ministry proposing to allow such a visa for foreign mountaineers. The policy is, at present being vetted by the ministry of home, which would look into the security aspects of allowing such a move. At present, tourists are required to seek special permission from government authorities for trekking certain peaks, which normally takes long time owing to tourists being subject to retinue of mandatory approvals from both centre and state.

The tourism ministry is of the view that the government should be liberal in allowing mountaineering visa as it has been in the case of medical visas. In a move to promote adventure tourism in the country the ministry has proposed to do away with duties on import of adventure sports related equipment. Meanwhile, the government is looking into the possibility of opening up more peaks for foreign tourists. The matter is being considered by the home and defence ministries.

"There are restrictions for tourists visiting certain mountain peaks. For example, tourists are not allowed to use GPS/satellite phones while trekking in the peaks. One can imagine what can happen if there is an accident. Without such phones, the adventure could be life-threatening for a tourist," an official who did not wish to be identified said.