The strategy involves leveraging India’s rich cultural heritage and spiritual sites, alongside significant infrastructure development in roads, railways, and airports. The government is creating policies to enhance the overall tourist experience. Shekhawat cited the Ujjain Mahakal Corridor as an example, attracting over 1 million visitors in one month.

A notable shift is the increasing importance of domestic tourists. “India’s domestic tourists have the potential to become a larger contributor to the country’s tourism sector,” Shekhawat said, indicating a move away from past reliance on international visitors.

Reflecting post-pandemic travel trends, the Centre is pushing states to develop experiential tourism at monument sites. “We’ve asked the states to come up with new proposals,” Shekhawat confirmed, as travellers seek new experiences.

The minister called for industry collaboration to build an end-to-end roadmap for both international and domestic travellers. “Promote ease of doing travel in India — which would segue into ease of doing business in the country,” he urged. He specifically asked corporates to host events and meetings within India to boost the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions) tourism segment.

Infrastructure development, including recent projects in roads, aviation, and railways, is seen as foundational. Shekhawat acknowledged the need for increased flight capacity. He highlighted that granting infrastructure status to the sector will be key: “The infrastructure status is going to give a major boost to private investments coming into the sector.”

The government is also supporting the development of the next 50 tourism destinations. Shekhawat further said that Indian tourism growth will be driven by rising infrastructure investments.