India organises seminar in Qatar to attract tourists from Gulf

Dubai, Oct 28 (PTI) In its efforts to attract more and more tourists from the Gulf and the Middle East region, India has organised a seminar in Qatar to provide a glimpse of the attractive tourism products as well as cultural, spiritual and travel experiences that it offers as a tourist destination. The 'Know India Seminar' was organised yesterday in Qatar's capital Doha by the India Tourism, Dubai, in cooperation with the Embassy of India in Doha. The seminar was organised to provide a glimpse of the attractive tourism products as well as cultural, spiritual and travel experiences that India offers as a tourist destination. The seminar was aimed at depicting the country as a multi-faceted tourist destination for luxury, wildlife, and wellness/medical tourism. India Tourism has also launched a new International Campaign 'Find What You Seek'. This campaign indicates a paradigm shift with the focus now being on the consumers. Foreign tourist arrivals into India have witnessed a steady increase over the years, touching 6.96 million in 2013, with an annual growth rate of 5.9 per cent. This year till September 2014, the foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India stood at 5.18 million. The Gulf and the Middle East has been showing a positive growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals to India over the last 2-3 years with 3,43,113 tourist arrivals registered during 2013 showing a growth of nearly 17.9 per cent over the previous year. As far as tourist traffic from the GCC to India is concerned, there has been an impressive over 25 per cent growth last year which clearly indicates the growing interest in choosing India as favorite tourist destination. "We expect more traffic from Qatar to India during the current year as the awareness about India is growing every year. The Seminar in Doha is a part of the three events being organized in the Region i.e., Muscat, followed by Doha & Kuwait to promote the India Tourism and the range of options in these important markets," the India Tourism said in a statement. The campaign highlights that tourists from the world over can find the destination or product of their desire in India, be it heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventure, wildlife, culture, festivals, medical, wellness, MICE, religion or shopping. India has also emerged as a destination for medical/wellness travel in GCC countries. The GCC countries include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. PTI