Explore India

Smitten by the travel bug, early on in life, AnanthKumar passed on his inspiration & spirit of adventure to the willing tourists from the world over. His efforts in putting India firmly on the tourist map has made tourism one of the richest means of foreign exchange apart from exposing our credentials to the global population. Through his efforts, Tourism has become accessible for all strata of society and also has become a significant revenue generator for the Economy.
Revenues exceeded Rupees fourteen thousand crores & 4.05 million jobs were created in the tourism sector, inspite of the Kargil war, Gujarat earthquakes & Orissa cyclone.

• AnanthKumar’s tenure as Minister for Tourism & Culture, saw the participation of Private sectors in the conservation of historical monuments, which were badly in need of patronage. At his behest, 34 historical sites were identified which were offered to the corporate sector for maintenance & preservation. For the first time in the history of India, corporates like the Tatas, ITDC, IOCL, among others were invited to lend the much needed support.
• An innovative thinker Ananth introduced a number of new devices, some being the very first of their kind in Asia or even in the world, which were set up at tourist spots by the department of tourism. Creation of cultural heritage programs and IT-based innovations for facilitation and information, became key areas for the promotion of tourism.
• Computerized electronic guides during walk-throughs at Red Fort, Delhi, 34 touch screen kiosks for providing reservation in hotels and other related information were provided at the airport.
• Remote presence system to have a virtual overview of the top of Qutab Minar without the need to climb. Facility to e-mail the view to a friend anywhere in the world was also provided, which perhaps is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
• The festivals like Sindhu darshan, Brahmaputra darshan provide glimpses of the rich heritage of our country.
• The ministry drafted a national policy on tourism which covers six basic areas of tourism i.e. welcome, facilitation, information, safety and security, infrastructure development and public-private co-operation.
• India was elected to chair the annual conference of Pacific Asia Tourism Association (PATA) held in Kuala Lumpur in April 2001. The conference inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Malaysia had an India evening to project various aspects of Indian tourism.
• To upgrade the tourism infrastructure in the country, the department of tourism sanctioned 337 projects for an amount of Rupees seventy crore in the year 2000-2001.
• During the year 2001-2002, 550 projects amounting to Rupees One Hundred and Sixty Crore had been sanctioned for the development of tourism.
• The department of tourism streamlined and simplified the rules regarding the grant of approval to travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators.