HEART OF THE WORLD
ONE WORLD - ONE LOVE - ONE HEART
Incredible India (styled as Incredıble!ndıa) is the name of an international marketing campaign by the Government of India to promote tourism in India in 2002 to an audience of global appeal.
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Incredible India title was officially branded and promoted by Amitabh Kant, then the Joint Secretary under the Union Ministry of Tourism, in 2002
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The campaign projected India as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing different aspects of Indian culture and history like yoga, spirituality, etc. The campaign was conducted globally and received appreciation from tourism industry observers and travelers alike. However, the campaign also came in for criticism from some quarters.
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It also attempted to re-instil a sense of responsibility towards tourists and reinforce the confidence of foreign tourists towards India as a preferred holiday destination. The concept was designed to complement the ‘Incredible India’ Campaign.
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In order to boost tourism numbers, the Indian Government decided to implement a new visa policy, allowing visitors to obtain a visa on arrival at 16 designated international airports by obtaining an Electronic Travel Authorisation online before arrival without the need to visit an Indian consulate or visa centre. As a result of this, 56,477 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa during the month of October, 2015, as compared to 2,705 during the month of October, 2014 marking to a growth of 1987.9%. During January–October, 2015 a total of 2,58,182 tourist arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 21,995 during January–October, 2014 registering a growth of 1073.8%. The facility will be made available to citizens of about 180 countries in several phases.
On 27 November 2014, India introduced its visa on arrival enabled by ETA facility for tourists and business visitors, to citizens of following countries – Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue Island, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The facility was extended to China, Macau and Hong Kong on 30 July 2015. The facility was further extended to citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, East Timor, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, Malaysia, Mongolia, Monaco, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Surinam, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela
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