Over 2 lakh jobs in tourism sector by 2010 Commonwealth Games

New Delhi, Jan 9 (UNI) Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni today said the tourism sector was likely to generate more than two lakh jobs by 2010 ahead of the Commonwealth Games.

Addressing a function here, she said about 10 million foreign tourists were projected to arrive in the country by that year.

Outbound tourism, currently standing at eight million tourists, would also grow manifold, Ms Soni added.

She said infrastructure and skilled manpower had to be in the right place in the next five years in the wake of boom in the tourism sector and economic growth of the country.

The Minister said modernisation and upgradation of international airports at Mumbai and Delhi and creation of about 1,50,000 additional rooms in budget and star category hotels were the main challenges before the stakeholders in the civil aviation and tourism sectors.

The phenomenal growth in these two sectors had far reaching implications, she added.

The country would witness tremendous employment generation in the skilled and semi-skilled sectors such as pilots, aviation engineers, air hostesses, stewards, ground handling staff, guides, travel agents, tour operators and freight agencies.

Ms Soni said tourism and civil aviation were inextricably linked as these two sectors feed and support each other. A strategy to develop manpower resources should take into account the demands and the growth trajectories of both aviation and tourism, she added.

The Minister said the Government was ready for public private partnership both in tourism infrastructure development and training and upgradation of skills through specialised institutions.

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