India on the global tourism map: Ambika

Tirupati, Nov 16 (UNI) Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni today said India was positioning itself on the global tourism map as an important tourist destination of the world.

Talking to newspersons here, she said the tourism industry, which was the net earner of foreign exchange and employer of a large number of people, would be developed with Public Private Partnership mode.

The Central Government in its recent policy had identified 23 mega tourism circuit projects, in which three projects namely Tirupati Heritage Circuit, Charminar area of Hyderabad and Kadapa mega projects had been sanctioned to the Andhra Pradesh for infrastructure development, she said.

The year 2007 witnessed a sweeping foreign tourist inflow touching five million mark, she said, adding that even there was phenomenal explosion in domestic tourism.

Later, she conducted a review meetion on temple circuit heritage project funded by the CNTE covering as many as 19 ancient temples in Chittoor and Nellore districts with trourism and archeologist officials.

UNI KNR AKM PY RK1950