On the occasion of World Tourism Day Friday, the Indian government launched a new campaign "777 days of Incredible Indian Himalayas" to attract tourists to the country during the lean summer season. It also announced a new platform, "India Travel Bazaar", which will be organized next year in New Delhi.
Tourism Secretary Parwez Dewan said the campaign would brand, promote and market the Indian Himalayas as a preferred tourist destination amongst both the domestic and the foreign travellers.
Six Himalayan states -- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- are partners in the campaign.
India will also stage a travel bazaar April 2014.
"The USP of India Travel Bazaar would be the intensive and sharp focus on inbound tourism and buyer-seller meet spread over two days," said Jyotsna Suri, chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee.
In 2012, the number of domestic tourism visits rose to 1,036 million as compared to 865 million in 2011 and 748 million in 2010. This is an increase of 19.87 percent over 2011 as compared to an increase of 15.6 percent in 2011 over 2010.
In 2011, foreign tourist arrivals in the country were 6.29 million, with a growth of 8.9 percent over 2010.
