Brazil, India and South Africa sign tourism cooperation agreement
Brazil, India and South Africa sign tourism signed a draft tripartite tourism cooperation agreement at the fifth edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) on Sunday
Leela Nandan, joint secretary in the tourism department of the central government, signed the agreement on behalf of India, Diplomats Carlos R Santana of Brazil and Zukiswa Nekhgranye of South Africa did the sign on behalf of their respectively countries.
“This is a draft agreement. Next month we will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Delhi,” Nandan said.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the IBSA joint working group meeting on tourism and IBSA tour operators workshop here, Nandan said the meeting considered the draft tripartite agreement for cooperation in the field of tourism between IBSA countries and agreed for its finalisation.
Signing of the document will promote cooperation among the three countries in the area of tourism as well as provide better understanding, goodwill and friendship in various sectors. The meeting stressed on the importance of interaction between the private tourism stakeholders to develop better understanding of the tourism products in each other’s country.
Establishing exchange programmes for students and faculties between leading academic institutions in tourism sector in IBSA countries for tourism manpower development was also taken up in the meeting.
No timeframe can be given on when the visa-on-arrival facility would come into force, she said.
Inbound tourism to India has registered a double digit growth during the past five years consecutively, she said.
Over five million foreign tourists visited the country last year, while there were 526 million domestic tourists.
The union government was focussing on rural tourism as a new product, she said. “The government is very focussed that socio-economic benefits should also reach the rural sector.”
From Brazil, there were 10,000 visitors to India last year and the Ministry was doing sufficient promotion after the bilateral agreement on tourism cooperation was signed in 2004, she said.
Last year, 46,042 tourists arrived from South Africa. Earlier, inaugurals represent a cross-section of the third world countries, its history and culture, he said.
A number of areas have been identified in the past summits. “There is a hitch as the three countries have their original free trade agreements which restrict wider cooperation at the international level and this complicates the whole process,” the Minister said.
“This agreement will certainly boost tourism activities as well as provide for better understanding and building of goodwill and friendship between our countries,” Brazil diplomat’s Carlos R Santana said.
A 32-member delegation of tour operators from three countries also participated in the agreement signing function.