NEW DELHI: The officials of Indian Missions and Ministry of Tourism (MoT) have met only on five occasions to discuss plans to promote Indian tourism destinations, festivals and exhibitions since the appointment of ‘tourism officers’ in 20 embassies and high commissions abroad.The 31-member parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture headed by Rajya Sabha MP of Janata Dal (United) Sanjay Kumar Jha has taken note of the limited number of meetings and asked the ministry to ensure regular interactions for ‘better communication and collaboration’.“The committee is concerned about the limited number of meetings held by the tourism officers with Indian stakeholders and foreign tourism business-to-business (B2B) players since their appointment. The Ministry should ensure that regular and frequent meetings are scheduled to foster better communication and collaboration,” the panel said in its latest report tabled in both Houses of Parliament recently.Earlier also, the committee had suggested regular meetings between tourism officers in Indian Missions and the ministry to chalk out an action plan to enhance foreign tourist arrivals and popularize India as a ‘favourite tourist destination’.The Centre shut down all the overseas Indian tourism offices in December 2022 and the responsibility of tourism promotion as entrusted with the ‘Tourism Officer’, who is a first or second secretary rank official of the ministry of external affairs already serving in the Indian diplomatic office in foreign countries. The officers were appointed in 20 countries from where India receives the maximum number of tourists.
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