Bengaluru, Sep 19 : The Ministry of Tourism is developing a “five-year action plan” for 2026-30 to be jointly implemented with other key stakeholders, as the government seeks to “overhaul” the ‘Incredible India’ brand to enrich the experience of both domestic and foreign tourists.
Union Tourism Secretary V Vidyavathi made a presentation on the roadmap envisioned for her ministry at a national conference here on Friday. She said that the ministry is also working on “country-specific strategies” to draw foreign travellers, and underlined that “we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach”.
In her presentation, titled ‘Tourism Together’, made to a gathering of representatives from leading hotels, hospitality giants, and tourism business stakeholders, she emphasised that her ministry’s role is to “catalyse” and “converge”, and urged the industry to be a “co-partner in every effort”.
To make the country a global travel destination, India has set an ambitious target of a USD 3 trillion tourism economy by 2047.
In her presentation, it was mentioned in an opening slide that, “For 2026-30, the (Tourism) Ministry is developing a five-year action plan to be jointly implemented by: Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, all states and Union Territories, all Government of India ministries, overseas Indian Missions, tourism industry, Indian diaspora and Indian citizens”.
“We are now working in the ministry on what we call the ‘tourism business plan’. What do we mean by that? What we mean by that is how do we, together as the Government of India, as a state government, as the local government, as the industry, as all of us associated with the sector… how do we create value for the tourist,” she said.
The 55th annual convention of the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI) is being held in Bengaluru from September 18-20.
The convention’s theme is ‘Future Scape 2047: Redefining Hospitality for a New Era’, and brings together a large number of industry leaders, policymakers, investors, and global experts to deliberate on the future roadmap of India’s hospitality and tourism sector.
“What we are trying to do is to brand refresh and overhaul the entire ‘Incredible India’ brand, which, all of you agree with me, has still a very, very huge top of the mind recall. How do we refurbish the entire brand? How do we focus on our core offerings?” Vidyavathi said.
One of the slides mentioned that for promotion and marketing, the ministry will focus on “culture and nature (India-only offerings) to attract high-value tourists”, and on country-specific strategies based on product-market fit and target-based implementation.
It envisions joint promotions by the tourism ministry, Indian missions, states and UTs, tour operators, airlines and hotels, among others. The goals are to increase foreign arrivals, diversify domestic visits, and retain outbound departures.
Besides, “digital-first — global influencers programme” is to begin shortly, and under the vision, the industry will create packages for lesser-known destinations apart from well-established ones.
“We’re working on country-specific strategies in terms of… this is more for the inbound tourist. What does a tourist of say, Germany want ?”
“What does a tourist from Spain want? Therefore, how do we cater to that segment? What we realise is that we cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach and therefore, should we be having country-specific strategies?” she said.
“While we are working on this, we have been talking to people, we have been talking to the industry, but once we have some kind of a draft ready, we will be sharing it with you for your inputs as well, because we cannot have a tourism business plan for India without the cooperation and without the inputs of the industry, without all of you as part of that,” the Union tourism secretary said.
Her presentation began with a reference to the ‘Viksit Bharat’ vision, and it quoted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s earlier statement on the sector.
“By 2047, our goal is to be a Viksit Bharat – a developed India. We have the potential to increase the contribution of tourism to 10% of our National GDP – and it is my wish that we create and implement a strong roadmap to achieve this vision,” Modi has said.
The presentation mentioned the 2026-30 period as a “strategic inflection point”.
She also said “National Tourism Data & Intelligence Hub” would enable informed decision-making by all stakeholders.
Besides, ‘Unified Tourism Interface’ – linking UPI, Digi Yatra, Digi Locker, and ONDC will transform tourist experience in India.
Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is an initiative aiming at promoting open networks for all aspects of the exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
Later, interacting with the audience, she said, artificial intelligence will drive growth in the tourism industry to boost efficiency of services, but the “human touch” would remain important for this sector as tourism is about personal experiences. (PTI)
