The Ministry of Tourism has decided to shut down its seven overseas offices tasked with promotional activities by March 31 next year. An office memorandum, issued by Under Secretary Rajesh Kumar, reads, “The undersigned is directed to intimate that as per the approval of the competent authority, Ministry of Tourism has decided to wind up all the overseas Indian Tourism offices before March 31, 2023.”
“Accordingly, all the officers posted in the ITOs (Indian Tourism Offices) overseas are requested to take necessary action in pursuance of this decision and submit an action taken report,” it further said.
“The government somewhere feels that the expenses incurred on the functioning of these offices are not worth the promotions that the Indian tourism sector gets abroad,” a government officer associated with the sector said. He added the government feels that digital medium and existing embassies can be good alternatives.
