Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to be the mascot of ‘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 ouster of Aamir Khan earlier this year.
No Bollywood actor will be engaged for the campaign aimed at attracting foreign travellers and video footages of 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 Modi had talked about the uniqueness and diversity of the various places in the country, the official said.
‘Best Face’ For Campaign
At present, the ministry is “working on selecting the footages”, 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 underway.
Earlier, Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma had endorsed Modi’s persona for the role, saying he is the “best face” to promote 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.
Supporting Sharma’s remarks, a senior ministry official said tourist inflow from countries like the US, Germany, Fiji, Brazil, Australia, the UK, Canada and Myanmar, among others, has witnessed a significant jump after Modi’s visit to these nations.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)