The Ministry of Tourism has identified Adventure Tourism, Eco Tourism and Sustainable Tourism as some of the Niche Tourism Products to promote India including Assam and other North Eastern States as a year round destination and to attract tourists with specific interest for ensuring repeat visits for the unique products vis-à-vis competing destinations. In addition, adequate focus is also being accorded for development of religious and pilgrim tourism.
Ministry of Tourism under its flagship schemes of Swadesh Darshan and National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) is giving due emphasis for development of tourism infrastructure and facilities. Under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, 15 themes have been identified for developing theme based circuits. These themes include Buddhist Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Heritage Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, North-East Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit, Tribal Circuit and Wildlife Circuit.
Under the PRASHAD Scheme, 41 religious cities/sites in 25 States have been identified for development which are Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Parasuram Kund (Lohit District, Arunachal Pradesh), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Balmeshwari Devi Temple (Rajnandgaon, Chhattisgarh), Dwarka and Somnath (Gujarat), Gurudwara Nada Saheb (Panchkula, Haryana), Maa Chintpurni (Una, Himachal Pradesh), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Deogarh and Parasnath (Jharkhand), Chamundeshwari Devi (Mysuru, Karnataka), Guruvayoor, St. Thomas International Shrine (Malayattoor) and Cheraman Juma Mosque (Thrissur, Kerala), Omkareshwar and Amarkantak (Madhya Pradesh), Babedpara, West Jaintia Hills and Sohra (Meghalaya), Aizwal (Mizoram), Kohima and Mokokchung Districts (Nagaland), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Tripura Sundari (Tripura), Varanasi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri (Uttarakhand) and Belur (West Bengal).
The Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD Schemes Guidelines have provision for developing nature and environment friendly destinations for both global and domestic tourists. The Ministry has made it mandatory for the State Governments/UT Administrations to prepare the Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) involving eco-tourism aspects viz. Use of clean/renewable energy; eco-friendly materials and equipment, recycling & reuse while submitting proposals under the PRASHAD and the Swadesh Darshan Schemes.
Ministry of Tourism is regularly promoting adventure tourism, religious tourism and eco-tourism as part of Incredible India 2.0 Campaign in domestic and overseas markets. Ministry of Tourism is also releasing specific media campaigns for promoting tourism destinations in North East States. North Eastern States are also being showcased on the Incredible India website. These destinations and niche tourism products are also being promoted on regular basis by India tourism offices in exhibitions and fairs held in India and abroad.
This information was given by Minister of State (/IC) for Culture & Tourism, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
