Paryatan Parv Boosting India's tourism potential

The Minister of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar; Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Minister of Steel Dharmendra Pradhan inaugurated the nationwide 'Paryatan Parv 2019' in the presence of the Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture, Prahlad Singh Patel in New Delhi, recently. The festival was inaugurated amongst the beating of drums and cultural performances. Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, M/o Tourism and Amit Khare, Secretary, M/o I&B and senior officers were also present during the occasion.

Organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Paryatan Parv 2019 will be held from October 2 – 13, 2019 across the country. The Delhi leg of the Parv is being held from October 2 – 6, 2019, at Rajpath lawns between Rafi Marg and Janpath.

Speaking on the occasion, Prakash Javadekar said that India is full of diversity and it makes India different and unique in comparison to rest of the world. He also said that under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, growth of tourism sector has been phenomenal over the last five years.

Addressing the gathering, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Our country has been bestowed with thousands of tourist attractions, spread in almost every district. He called upon the countrymen and the foreign tourists to move into the countryside and visit the less explored places which have historical, cultural or religious significance." He further complimented the Ministry of Tourism for organising such events and undertaking the promotional efforts which has led to 1.5 times jump in the number of foreign visitors in last five years. He said that tourism in the country provides substantial employment opportunities and contributes much to the national GDP. Pradhan added that organising such festivals provides opportunity and exposure to common man to experience and appreciate the cultural and other types of varieties in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Prahlad Singh Patel expressed his happiness about the inauguration of Paryatan Parv coinciding with 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. He further talked about how Prime Minister is Brand Ambassador of the country and due to his efforts tourism has shown a tremendous growth over the five years. In fact, the world tourism ranking of the country has jumped from 65 in 2013 to 34 in 2019, he explained.

He further stated that in the line of Gandhi's thoughts regarding sustainable and clean tourism, efforts are being made to phase out single use plastics in various organisations of ASI and Ministry of Tourism. Single Use Plastics will no longer be permitted within ASI protected Monuments and within 100m of these Monuments, the Toursim Minister announced.

The Paryatan Parv has 31 stalls of Central government ministries as well as from States and UTs. 59 food stalls representing cuisines from all over the country have also been setup.

Other events that will be held on the lines of this parv are Crafts Bazaar with 76 handicraft and handloom stalls, cultural performances by states / UTs and north zone cultural centre, yoga demo, exhibition on the theme by Bureau of Outreach Communication, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and much more to keep visitors engaged

During the inauguration seven Memorandum of Understanding with four agencies under the 'Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan' project of Ministry of Tourism were also handed over.

The Adopt a Heritage Scheme aims to develop synergy amongst all stakeholders to promote responsible tourism.