HBI Staff | Hyderabad 
The government is contemplating setting up a new Advisory Board to promote India as a major tourism destination, reports Varuni Khosla for Mint.
As part of a proposed policy, there will be renewed focus on enhancing the contribution of tourism to India’s economy by increasing visitation, stay and spending, and making India a year-around tourist destination, said Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of tourism. “The policy will be presented to the Cabinet soon,” he told a gathering at a hospitality and tourism conclave organized by Services Export Promotion Council in New Delhi on Friday.
The new policy will emphasise on creating jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. “We all know that where manufacturing and agriculture cannot reach, tourism will be the main employer. We are internally working on a projection for the next 25 years, and the vision is that tourism should become a $1 trillion industry in India by 2047,” Singh said. The draft policy has identified five missions to be implemented over the next decade to lay a roadmap for improving the framework for tourism development.
According to the draft, the National Green Tourism Mission will mainstream sustainability and align tourism development with the sustainable development goals of 2030. It will enable smart tourism destinations and IT applications. Besides, it is considering setting up a destination management organization, which will focus on maintaining and marketing tourist destinations to make them more attractive for foreign tourists.
A management ecosystem for small and medium tourism and travel firms will also be set up. “It’s time…we give jobs to local people especially in locations where people were without jobs for the last two years and have a policy with a more destination centric approach,” Singh added. (Source: Mint)
