Dr. K Chiranjeevi, Minister of State for Tourism has called for strengthening cooperation in tourism sector between India and Japan in a meeting held in New Delhi today with Mr. Hiroshi Kajiyama, Senior Vice Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, Government of Japan. The Minister said both the countries have tremendous scope to develop tourism infrastructure with mutual help. Recalling the age old historic and cultural ties between both the nations, Dr. Chiranjeevi said it would be appropriate if we strengthen our ties by promoting bilateral tourism. He suggested signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between both the countries. Dr. Chiranjeevi informed the Japanese Minister about the India Tourism Road Shows Ministry is going to hold in Tokyo and Osaka on 18th and 20th February 2013 and invited Japanese stakeholders to participate in it in large number. It was also informed that in next 12 months Ministry of Tourism website will also be available in the Japanese language and Ministry is going to launch a telephone line in Japanese language for Japanese tourists. The Tourism Minister suggested that the two countries can promote an exchange programme wherein the tour operators and media can visit the each other’s country to understand the true tourism potential. There was also a suggestion to organize a special programme, wherein the HRD experts from India and Japan can visit some of the Hotel Management and Tourism Institute in both the countries and interact with the teaching faculty through conferences and seminars. The Japanese Minister said that both the countries have potential to strengthen bilateral ties by promoting tourism and expressed the hope that more and more tourists from both the sides will visit each other’s country. Mr. Kajiyama talked about public-private partnership in tourism sector and raised the issue of easy visa facilitation for the tourists. The Japanese side stressed on the need for developing special tour packages based on special needs of Indian tourists by Japanese Tour Operators. Japan agreed to follow100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), in budget accommodation hotels in India. The Indian Tour Operators were requested to develop tour packages for Japanese women tourists since they prefer to travel alone. Both the sides were happy with the discussions held during the meeting and agreed that regular meetings may be organized between the two countries for the development of two way tourism.
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