NEW DELHI: Concerned over its Incredible India tourism promotion campaign taking a hit as a result of concerns over safety and security of foreign tourists visiting India, tourism minister K J Alphons has urged Union home minister Rajnath Singh to summon state government representatives and hold a brainstorming session over how to address the problem.TOI has learnt Alphons has written to Union home minister Rajnath Singh, requesting him to call a conclave of chief secretaries and state DGPs in order to deliberate on ways in which the states and ministry can ramp up tourist facilitation, and reduce instances of harassment or crimes against foreigners visiting India.A senior ministry official told TOI that while the date of the conclave has not yet been fixed, the government expects the conclave to be called soon. "An official request to this effect was sent to the home minister last week. A formal date has not been communicated to us yet, but we hope that it will be called soon," the official said.In October, a Swiss couple was attacked by a mob in Fatehpur Sikri , an ill-timed episode that coincided with the tourism ministry's 'Paryatan Parv', a 20-day tourism promotion exercise that was held across India. While the couple recovered from their injuries, the incident caused considerable embarrassment to the government, which it tried to offset not only by offering to pay for the couple's medical expenses, but also by offering them an all-expenses paid stay at ITDC's flagship Ashok Hotel, as the Union government's goodwill gesture.The Fatehpur Sikri incident, though, is not the only one that threatens to derail the ministry's efforts to increase tourist footfalls and investments in the tourism sector. In its latest report, the National Crime Records Bureau says 2016 saw a total of 284 incidents of crimes against foreign tourists, which was nearly at par with the number of incidents against foreign tourists registered in 2015.Officials in the ministry said that while policing is a state subject and the ministry cannot intervene except to urge state governments to do better, the ministry has decided holding deliberations with all stakehoders — state governments and their police chiefs — should throw up ideas on the best ways to ensure that those visiting India can be provided a better tourist experience.

Source: Times of India December 02, 2017 23:37 UTC