‘INCREDIBLE
INDIA’
IS
NARENDRA MODI
Tourism Minister
Mahesh Sharma thinks the Prime Minister is the "best face" to promote
the campaign.Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the mascot of the
“Incredible India” campaign with the Tourism Ministry finally deciding to do
away with plans to rope in any Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, for
the role which was lying vacant after the ouster of Aamir Khan earlier this
year.
No Bollywood actor
will be engaged for the campaign aimed at attracting foreign travellers and
video footage of Mr. Modi during the last two-and-a-half years where he has
talked about tourism in India and abroad, will be used for the campaign, a
senior Ministry official said.The Ministry is planning to use — for radio and
audio release — two types of videos of different durations where Mr. Modi has
talked about the uniqueness and diversity of the various places in the country,
the official said.
At present, the
Ministry is “working on selecting the footage”, the official said, adding that
the campaign would be released in the next 40-45 days as the Indian ‘tourism
season’ starts by November-end due to favourable weather as also the Christmas
holidays and New Year celebrations.The official said the process of selecting
the agency, which will carry out the task of running the campaign, is also
under process.
Earlier, Tourism
Minister Mahesh Sharma had endorsed Mr. Modi’s persona for the role, saying he
is the “best face” to promote the Incredible India campaign. He had asserted
that the country has witnessed a jump in the tourists inflow from the countries
the Prime Minister had visited.He had said the Ministry need not have any Bollywood
face for the campaign to attract tourists from overseas.“The perception about
India has changed significantly in the last two years with Prime Minister Modi
visiting a host of countries during the period. So, who else could be a better
face for Indian tourism than our Prime Minister,” Sharma had said.
Supporting Sharma’s
remarks, a senior Ministry official said tourist inflows from countries such as
the US, Germany, Fiji, Brazil, Australia, the UK, Canada and Myanmar, among
others, has witnessed a significant jump after Mr. Modi’s visit to these
nations.Earlier the names of
megastar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Priyanka Chopra were doing the rounds for
the campaign aimed at promoting India as a favourite tourist destination abroad
after actor Aamir Khan’s ouster as the campaign’s brand ambassador.Though it was believed
that Khan was eased out of the campaign in January after being associated with
it for several years for his remarks on perceived intolerance, the Tourism
Ministry had maintained that he was not hired by the government and that the
contract with the advertising agency which engaged him had expired.
Prof. John Kurakar
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