The Ministry of Tourism has given two National Tourism Awards to recently released film "Life of Pi" after recognizing its impact in promoting India as a tourism destination, especially Puducherry in Tamil Nadu and Munnar in Kerala.
Union Tourism Minister Shri Chiranjeevi on Saturday said that awards would be given to Ang Lee, the film's director, and Yann Martel, writer of the book of the same name. Chiranjeevi expressed hope that this will go a long way in encouraging more film producers from abroad to shoot their films in India.
Every year, the Ministry of Tourism recognizes various stakeholders, including film makers and writers for their contribution in promoting India Tourism by conferring National Tourism Awards.
Identifying 'Film Tourism' as a niche tourism product, the ministry has requested the state governments and union territory administrations to recognize the potential of film tourism and constitute special bodies or cells to facilitate filming in their respective regions.
Earlier in February, the ministry had signed an MoU with the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting as a major initiative to promote the 'Incredible India' campaign and Cinemas of India as a sub brand of 'Incredible India' at various international film festivals and markets abroad.
The MoU is expected to enhance the reach of 'Incredible India' through the medium of cinema, develop synergy between tourism and film industry and provide a platform for enabling partnerships between the Indian and global film industry. The agreement also provided an impetus to frame policies and guidelines for facilitating shooting of International films in India and promote India as a filming destination, both for international and domestic film producers.
Another key objective of the MoU is to initiate dialogue with state governments and union territories for development of locations for film shootings. As per the agreement, the Ministry of Tourism would provide budgetary support for identified film festivals, markets and events.
It would also facilitate publicity through the available content based on existing audio visual material and print designs. The joint participation of the two ministries would cover Cannes Film Festival and Market, IFFI Goa, Film Bazaar and European Film Market at Berlin.
It is expected that this innovative partnership will facilitate the promotion of India as a filming destination for foreign producers. Since 2010, as many as 21 permissions for shooting in India were granted.
