Parliament committee raises questions on delay in completing transition formalities of overseas promotions between MoT & MEA, ET TravelWorld

In the latest action taken report tabled in the parliament, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture has raised serious questions on why issues of overseas marketing and promotions, budgets for such activities, etc., haven’t been sorted out by the two departments even after the closure of all India tourism offices overseas nearly two years ago.The Committee notes in its report that there was sufficient time for the two Ministries to have the transition formalities in place. It’s almost two years since the last Indian tourism office was closed, and the responsibility of tourism promotions overseas has been handed over to the Indian missions abroad.

As per the standing committee report, the MEA has informed the committee that while the overseas tourist offices had a lot of funds available for providing brochure support, etc., to overseas agents, the two ministries are still in discussions about how to place a separate budget for tourism at the disposal of the MEA which would enable the missions to give brochure support to the agents and other promotional work.

The Tourism Ministry has informed the parliamentary standing committee that it has proposed to the MEA the prospects of posting tourism ministry officials in Indian missions abroad to complement their efforts and make it really effective and focused. The External Affairs ministry is currently considering the proposal, and the standing committee was informed.

The committee, while expressing confidence in the competence of the MEA officers posted in missions in handling tourism promotions, felt that MEA could explore the possibility of posting officers from the Ministry of Tourism who are “well trained and experienced in tourism promotions” for the job in missions abroad.

The report by the parliamentary standing committee has also taken into account the feedback it received from the tourism industry stakeholders and noted that because of the lack of brochure support to foreign agents, India no longer figures in the promotional brochures of leading overseas agents and companies, adversely impacting international inbound into India.

Reacting to a question related to overseas promotions in a recent conference organised by CII in the national capital, a senior bureaucrat attached to the tourism ministry has also conceded that in the government, once a door is closed, it takes a whole lot of effort to get it reopened, pointing to the closure of India Tourism offices. Similarly, in overseas promotions, he said that regular interactions with the international markets with branding and promotions are quite critical in tourism marketing. Once you exit from a market, it is doubly difficult to get the momentum back.

Meanwhile, in the Budget 2025-26, the overseas promotions and marketing budget has plummeted to a record low of INR 3.03 crore. Last year, it was INR 33 crore.