A belated ‘Visit India Year 2009' was launched in Riyadh Tuesday in the presence of a large number of tour and travel operators and local Saudi media. The India Tourism Roadshow was jointly organized by the Dubai-based Indian Tourism Office and the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. Indian Ambassador M.O.H. Farooq, Mohan Sadana, Director, India Tourism, and Pranob K. Sarkar, leader of the Indian delegation were also present. Sultan Ahmed, Indian Minister for State for Tourism, who was part of the Indian tourism delegation that visited Saudi Arabia, said the Dubai-based India Tourism Office launched the tourism promotion drive in other Gulf states in April this year. After Riyadh, he said the tourism promotion drive will be launched in Kuwait and Doha. “The tourism promotion drive is a continuous process that runs 12 months of the year and any time is a good time for the launch of such campaigns,” he said while answering a question on the wrong timing of the event as it is being held after the end of the holiday season. Saudis who went out to spend their holidays in a number of international tourist destinations are returning home now with the start of the new academic year. Ahmed said that during his meeting with Dr. Salah K. Al-Bukhyyet, Vice President for Investment, Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA), the two sides discussed bilateral cooperation in areas such as HR development, training and easing of visa procedures for tourists. During the meeting, Ahmed said, he proposed the need for the signing of a bilateral agreement to promote tourism in both countries. “Under the agreement a system should be developed that will undertake executive programs for the training of Indian and Saudi officials in the field of tourism,” he said. Ahmed said that despite the economic downturn, there was a 20 percent growth in the number of foreign tourists that visited India in 2008. He said out of 250,000 tourists from the six Gulf states, 26,000 were Saudis. Ambassador Farooq urged Saudis to visit India as tourists and experience the diversity that the country has to offer in all tourism related activities designed for individuals and families. One of the promising areas of the Indian tourism industry is medical tourism and Saudis during their stay in India can also benefit from India's traditional systems of medicine that include Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha and naturopathy, he said. – SG “Moreover, our super-specialty healthcare facilities have opened a new opportunity for our tourism industry to offer innovative tourism packages combining traditional tourism with affordable medical treatment,” he said.
