Skift Take
India’s Union Budget had it all for tourism — the good (domestic tourism boost), the bad (no clarity on travel tax, 60% cut in regional connectivity scheme allocation) and the ugly (a 97% slash in overseas promotion).
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India's recently-unveiled Union Budget for the fiscal year 2024-2025 gave a big increase to the tourism ministry, but the amount for the global promotion took a major hit: A 97% reduction to just INR 30 million ($361,000).
While the budget introduces measures to bolster infrastructure and amenities at tourist centers, the severe cut in promotional spending has industry stakeholders questioning the government's commitment to inbound tourism.
The industry had also hoped for a solution to the recently-introduced travel tax issue in the budget, but there was no clarity on that.
As Himanshu Dwivedi, director of Monkfoot Travels put it: “INR 30 million for overseas tourism promotion is a joke and make no mistake, the joke's on us.”
“Other tourism destinations have substantially increased their overseas marketing and promoti