Bangkok--Jan 13--eTurboNews
Indian Tourism Minister Renuka Chowdhury has called upon the developed countries to take all precautions while issuing travel advisories regarding countries affected with acts of terrorism or natural calamities.
"Such advisories further handicapped the already affected nations and put roadblocks in the development of tourism," stated the Ministry.
Citing examples of recent past, she said that in some cases such advisories were not only unreasonable but discriminatory also.
Chowdhury said that Indian tourism is growing at the rate eight percent and has been declared the fastest growing in the region. The government has given very high priority to development of infrastructure. It was recently shared that that foreign tourist arrivals in the country touched a new record with a figure of 3.91 million visitors during the calendar year 2005. The arrivals during 2004 was 3.45 million, resulting in growth of 13.2 percent.
The arrival figure has exceeded the tourism ministry's target for the year - 3.8 million. For the year 2006, the ministry has set the arrival target at 4.4 million.
A scheme of large-scale tourism infrastructure development with private participation has been launched. Under the scheme, the government would provide three-fourth of the equity which can be up to US$11.1 million.
The ministry is also proposing long-term visa, up to 10 -15 years for selected countries, having potential tourism markets for India to facilitate tourist arrival, she added.
The Minister said that tourism could bring a sea change in the pace of social and economic development. Hence, the government is making all efforts to pass on its benefits to rural and remote areas also. The recently launched rural tourism scheme is a step in this direction only, she added. Recognizing the important role tourism can play as a catalyst for development in rural areas, a rural tourism scheme was launched this year. The objective is not only to showcase art, craft and heritage but also to ensure that benefits of the tourism reach to rural areas. In consultation with the state governments, 63 rural sites were identified and US$114,500 sanctioned for the each during the year.
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