'Budget hotels likely to get infrastructure status'

New Delhi, Nov 28: All the new three and four star hotels, to be commissioned before the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the capital city of Delhi, are likely to be given 'infrastructure status' in order to expedite their construction, the government informed the Rajya Sabha today.

In a written reply, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said her ministry had made a recommendation to the government to this effect.

Ms Soni said the ministry had recently launched a voluntary scheme -- ''Incredible India Bed and Breakfast Scheme'' -- to provide affordable accommodation to tourists.

''The main requisite of the scheme is that only those house owners, who are able to offer a minimum of one room or a maximum of five rooms of prescribed specification and who are physically residing in the house, are eligible to apply for this scheme,'' she said.

The Tourism Ministry has received 13 applications till date in this regard, she informed.

''The National Tourism Policy aims at positioning tourism as a major engine of economic growth and harnessing its direct and multiplier effects for employment generation,'' she said.

Replying to another query, Ms Soni said her ministry had launched a slew of schemes to promote India as a global health care destination.

Indian Healthcare Federation, an NGO affiliated to the CII, has prepared a guide on select Indian hospitals for health tourism purposes. It has been placed on the ministry's web site www.incredibleindia.org for wider publicity.

Further, brochures, CDs and other publicity material to promote medical and health tourism have been produced by the Tourism Ministry, and have been widely circulated for publicity in target markets, such as World Travel Mart, London, and ITB, Berlin.

Ms Soni said a new category of 'Medical Visa' has been introduced, which can be given for specific purpose to foreign tourists coming to India for medical treatment.

Guidelines for accreditation of Ayurvedic and Panchkarma Centres have been circulated to all State Governments for implementation.

UNI