NEW DELHI, June 19: Tourism Ministry is worried about the negative fallout of the crimes against foreigners in the country recently and is planning to take steps in consultation with states to ensure their safety in future.
Union Tourism Minister K Chiranjeevi will convene a meeting with state Tourism Ministers early next month to coordinate steps in this connection.
“There have been certain sad incidents which are unfortunate and not good for the country. It hampers the growth of tourism,” Chiranjeevi told here.
Acknowledging that such incidents can have negative fallout on tourism, he said, “We are convening a meeting of Tourism Ministers of all states early next month to discuss ways to ensure safety and security of tourists.”
The decision to discuss steps for safety of tourists comes against the backdrop of sporadic incidents of crime against foreign tourists in the country relating to harassment and assault.
A foreign tourist was raped and killed in Madhya Pradesh in March while another had to jump from the first floor of a hotel in Agra to escape sexual assault.
Chiranjeevi said such incidents could hurt the growth of tourism which has a huge potential otherwise. He said growth of this sector can be crucial for eradication of poverty as it leads to job creation in a major way.
Highlighting the employment generating capacity of the sector, he said, “One job is being created on every 30 foreign tourists visiting the country.”
Maintaining that growth of tourism is crucial for economic growth, Chiranjeevi noted that the sector contributed 6.8 per cent to GDP in the last financial year.
Tourism was also responsible for earning Rs 94,487 crore as foreign exchange last fiscal.
The sector witnessed growth of 4.3 per cent last year as 65,77,745 foreigners visited India against 63,09,222 tourists the previous year.
“The growth is not very ideal but it is roughly double the world average,” the Tourism Minister said, adding that there is potential for further growth of the sector.
Chiranjeevi, who became the Tourism Minister in October last year, said the growth of the sector was hampered by a number of issues including lack of proper air connectivity, easy visa services, affordable hotels and cleanliness at tourist spots.
“We are yet to focus on tourism. Tourism is antidote for poverty alleviation as the sector has capacity for generating jobs,” he said.
“Our aim is to have at least one per cent in country’s share in international tourist arrivals as has been projected by the Ministry in the 12th Plan,” he said.
Currently, India’s share in world tourist arrivals is about 0.64 per cent.
To address the problems, the Tourism Ministry has launched ‘Clean India’ campaign to inculcate civic sense among citizens to keep tourist places, including monuments, clean.
He said corporate houses are being roped in for maintaining cleanliness in and around tourist places.
ONGC has agreed to maintain cleanliness at six monuments – Taj Mahal at Agra, Ellora Caves and Elephanta Caves in Maharashtra, Red Fort in Delhi, Golkonda Fort in Hyderabad and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.
“We have also invited other PSUs and private sector giants to adopt several other monuments in the country,” he said. (PTI)
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