**Executive Summary**
This document outlines the Ministry of Tourism's initiatives to promote and develop tourism in India, including Himachal Pradesh. It covers various schemes, strategies, and financial assistance programs designed to enhance tourism infrastructure, capacity building, and rural tourism development. The information was provided by the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture on February 13th, 2026.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Promotion and Financial Assistance:**
* The Ministry of Tourism promotes tourism destinations through various initiatives and provides financial assistance to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under schemes like Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH) for fairs, festivals, and tourism-related events.
* Schemes like Swadesh Darshan (SD) and PRASHAD offer financial assistance for tourism-related infrastructure development.
* The Swadesh Darshan Scheme has been revamped to Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) focusing on sustainable and responsible destination development.
* Central Financial Assistance is provided under Assistance to Central Agencies (ACA) for tourism infrastructure development by Central Agencies.
* **Capacity Building:**
* The Scheme of Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP) provides education, training, and certification to tourism service providers.
* The CBSP aims to improve employability and professional expertise in the tourism sector.
* **Adventure and Eco-Tourism:**
* The Ministry has formulated separate National Strategies for Adventure Tourism and Eco-tourism.
* **Rural Tourism:**
* The Government of India announced collateral free institutional credit of Mudra Loans for Homestays in the Budget Announcement for 2025-26 to encourage setting up of homestays.
* A National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India focuses on key pillars like model policies, digital technologies, cluster development, marketing support, capacity building, and governance.
* A Task Force for Development of Rural Tourism was constituted under the Chairpersonship of by Secretary (T).
* The Ministry of Tourism conducted two editions of the Best Tourism Villages competition, recognizing seventy-one villages that exemplify sustainable and community-based tourism.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations**
* **Impact:** Opportunity to receive financial assistance for tourism infrastructure development and promotional activities.
* **Action Required:** Collaborate with the Ministry of Tourism, submit project proposals, and implement the schemes and strategies.
**Stakeholder: Tourism Service Providers**
* **Impact:** Access to education, training, and certification programs under the CBSP scheme, leading to increased employability and improved working conditions.
* **Action Required:** Participate in the CBSP scheme to enhance skills and professional expertise.
**Stakeholder: Central Agencies**
* **Impact:** Opportunity to receive financial support for tourism infrastructure development projects.
* **Action Required:** Coordinate with the Ministry of Tourism, submit project proposals, and implement infrastructure development projects.
**Stakeholder: Rural Communities**
* **Impact:** Potential for economic development and preservation of cultural heritage through rural tourism initiatives.
* **Action Required:** Participate in rural tourism initiatives and implement sustainable tourism practices.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Tourism: The central ministry responsible for the development and promotion of tourism in India, including Himachal Pradesh.
Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0): A revamped scheme by the Ministry of Tourism aimed at developing sustainable and responsible tourism destinations.
Scheme of Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP): A scheme by the Ministry of Tourism focused on providing education, training, and certification to tourism service providers.
Himachal Pradesh: The state in India that is the focus of the tourism development initiatives described in the article.
National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India: A strategy document focusing on developing rural tourism in India.
Ministry of Tourism
Development of Tourism in Himachal Pradesh
Posted On: 13 FEB 2026 11:54AM by PIB Delhi
Promotion and Development of tourist places is primarily undertaken by the concerned State
Government/Union Territory (UT) Administration. However, the Ministry of Tourism as part of its
ongoing endeavour, promotes various tourism destinations and products of India including the states of
Himachal Pradesh in a holistic manner, through various initiatives including promotional events, Central
financial Assistance (CFA) to State Governments/Union Territory Administrations under Domestic
Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality (DPPH) Scheme for organising fairs, festivals and tourism
related events.
The Ministry under the schemes of Swadesh Darshan (SD), National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation
and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) provides financial assistance to State
Governments/Union Territory Administrations and for the development of tourism-related infrastructure in
the country including the State of Himachal Pradesh. The Ministry of Tourism has now revamped its
Swadesh Darshan Scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) with the objective to develop sustainable and
responsible destinations following a tourist & destination centric approach, in consultation with the State
Governments/UT Administrations. The Ministry of Tourism has issued guidelines for Challenge Based
Destination Development (CBDD), a sub-scheme under Swadesh Darshan 2.0. This sub-scheme aims for
holistic development of destination to enhance tourist experience across all of tourist value chain to
transform our tourist destinations as sustainable and responsible destinations. In addition to this, the
Ministry of Tourism has issued Operational Guidelines and template for Detailed Project Report for
Special assistance to States for capital investment (SASCI)- Development of Iconic Tourist Centres to
Global Scale to the State Governments. The Central Financial Assistance scheme under Assistance to
Central Agencies (ACA) provides support to Central Agencies such as ITDC, WAPCOS, BECIL, ASI,
Port trust of India, M/o Railways etc. for tourism infrastructure development.
The Ministry of Tourism has put in place the Scheme of Capacity Building for Service Providers (CBSP)
to provide education, training and certification to the tourism service providers covering different levels of
Hospitality sector. The main objective of this initiative is to train and up-grade manpower at every strata of
tourism service providers in order to capitalize the vast tourism potential of the country including the State
of Himachal Pradesh to the fullest, and provide professional expertise. The training programme
implemented through the CBSP scheme aims to increase the employability of the tourism service
providers so that they can move from informal to formal jobs leading to increased earnings and or
improved working condition.
To position India as a preferred destination for adventure tourism and Eco-tourism globally, Ministry of
Tourism has formulated two separate National Strategies for Adventure Tourism and Eco-tourism.
The Government of India has announced collateral free institutional credit of Mudra Loans for Homestays
in the Budget Announcement for 2025-26 to encourage setting up of homestays across the country for
optimum harnessing of tourism potential across the country including Himachal Pradesh.
The following initiatives of Ministry of Tourism towards Rural Tourism are as under: -(1) National Strategy and Roadmap for Development of Rural Tourism in India - An
initiative towards Atmanirbhar Bharat. The strategy document focuses on the following key
pillars:
(i) Model policies and best practices for rural tourism
(ii) Digital technologies and platforms for rural tourism
(iii) Developing clusters for rural tourism
(iv) Marketing support for rural tourism
(v) Capacity building of stakeholders
(vi) Governance and institutional framework
(2) A Task Force for Development of Rural Tourism was constituted under the
Chairpersonship of by Secretary (T), comprising of representatives from identified Central
Ministries/ organizations, State Governments/UT Administrations and Industry Stakeholders.
(3) The Ministry of Tourism conducted two editions of the Best Tourism Villages
competition to honour villages that best exemplifies a tourism destination that preserves and
promotes community-based values, goods, and lifestyles, and has a clear commitment to
sustainability with the overarching goal of making tourism one of the drivers of positive
change. Seventy-one villages have been recognized as Best Tourism Villages so far.
This information was given by Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in
a written reply in Lok Sabha on 13th February 2026.
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Sunil Kumar Tiwari
tourism4pib[at]gmail[dot]com
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