New Delhi, Oct 19: India’s year-long Presidency of the G20 will be a key occasion to showcase the country’s culture, heritage, hospitality, ethos and tourist destinations, Union Culture and Tourism minister G Kishan Reddy said on Wednesday.
He emphasised that efforts should be made to ensure all delegates go back with pleasant memories.
In his address at a national conference on tourist police here, he also asserted that “we should have a policy of zero tolerance” for incidents threatening the safety and security of tourists.
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India will assume the Presidency of the influential group for a year from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
“The G20 meetings will take place across the country. This will be an important occasion to showcase India’s culture, heritage, hospitality, tourism destinations and other sites. About 400 members will take part in any meet,” Reddy said.
These will not be general tourists, but important officers, ministers, heads of various agencies, including those from the European Union, he said.
During the event attended by top police officers and tourism department officials from many states and Union Territories at Vigyan Bhawan here, the Union minister also flagged the harassment faced by foreign tourists due to a few unscrupulous elements such as middlemen, taxi or autorickshaw drivers who try to fleece them.
He also highlighted incidents of chain snatching at many religious or other sites.
He said such incidents dent the image of the country, and asserted that the Centre, state, UTs, police, paramilitary and others should deal with such issues with “zero tolerance”.
Reddy said over 200 meetings of the G20 are planned in India during the time of its Presidency. There should be “good behaviour and good arrangements” in this one-year period, and tourism will be an important topic among all discussions, the minster added.
If the delegates enjoy their stay and experiences in India, they will talk about our culture, and praise India when they go back. They should have pleasant memories and efforts should be such that there “should not be a single (untoward) incident” in this yearlong period, he said.
The G20 Leaders’ Summit at the level of heads of state or government is scheduled to be held on September 9-10 2023 in New Delhi.
The G20 or Group of Twenty, is an intergovernmental forum of the world’s major developed and developing economies. It comprises 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA) and the European Union (EU).
From big metros to smaller cities, including those rich in history and scenic beauty such as Hampi and Khajuraho, India has planned to host the G20 meetings at 55 locations across the country during its Presidency.
Top officials of the Tourism ministry have said that the idea behind choosing historic cites to host meetings is to put a “spotlight on heritage sites”.
“These meetings are planned to be held at 55 locations across the length and breadth of the country spanning various states. We will cover metros, state capitals, important tourist destinations among other places,” a senior official told PTI earlier.
These 55 locations will also include Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities which have picturesque landscape and are rich in cultural heritage, he said.
“We are holding a meeting at the Runn of Kutch, one in Siliguri, and there will be meetings at Hampi and Khajuraho as well,” the official said.
The ruins of Hampi in Karnataka and the group of temples in Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh are among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India.
Union Tourism Secretary Arvind Singh, who also attended the conference, had recently said India plans to position itself as a “major tourism destination” during its Presidency of the G20.
“We plan to ensure due rigour and dedication, and showcase our cultural richness while welcoming the world to our nation. We plan to bring in necessary interventions including visa reforms, ease of travel, traveller-friendly immigration facilities at airports and openness to international travel,” the tourism ministry had said in a statement earlier. (PTI)
