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According to Tourism Minister Kumari Selja, tourism has been affected by the widespread swine flu and the growing fear regarding economic recession.
Addressing reporters, she said: "The impact of the economic downturn was seen throughout the world. Terror attacks and the economic downturn this year saw a decrease in tourist arrivals. We picked up in the middle, but in recent months because of the swine flu there was a downturn. But it is now seeing an upward trend."
Swine flu has claimed the lives of about 479 Indians where as about 14,000 people have developed the H1N1 infection. Selja, who was addressing the Economic Editors Conference in New Delhi, mentioned that India has witnessed a marginal 5.6% growth in the number of foreign tourists in 2008.
"However, the growth rate for India was higher than that observed for the world (2.0 percent)," she said.
The minister said the government plans to launch various initiatives to attract tourists to India, including developing the Buddhist circuit.
"We have entered into a loan agreement with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for loan assistance to the tune 9,495 million Japanese Yen (Rs.395.63 crore) for the Uttar Pradesh Buddhist Circuit Development Project," she said.
"We are also planning to organise an international meet with all trade and media representatives in Nalanda in Bihar in February next year to showcase India's Buddhist heritage," Selja said.
The RBI has de-linked credit for hotel projects from commercial real estate, which will enable the credit to be availed at better norms and reduced interest rates for hotel projects.
