Increase in foreign tourists' arrival despite shortage of hotel room

New Delhi, Mar 13 (UNI) Despite the shortage of accommodation in some metro cities, India has witnessed 13.2 per cent growth in foreign and 18.9 per cent in domestic tourists, the government said today.

In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said her ministry had estimated that 30,000 additional hotel rooms would be needed in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) alone to meet the requirement of Commonwealth Games, 2010.

She said a budgetary allocation of Rs 10 crore had been proposed for the year 2007-08 under the head ''Creation of Land Bank for Hotels''. The Finance Ministry, in its latest budget proposals, had announced tax holiday for five years for budget hotels in Delhi and some selected adjoining districts to promote investment in the hospitality sector.

Ms Soni said the Tourism Ministry also offers capital subsidy of 10 per cent of the loan to promote budget category hotels in the country. The outlay for 2007-08 under this head is Rs 20 crore.

''Construction of hotels is primarily a private sector activity and the Ministry of Tourism extends facilitation,'' she informed.

Replying to another query, the minister said the tourist traffic from South East Asia had shown an increase of 15.4 per cent in 2005 as compared to 2004.

Giving a break-up, she said the number of foreign tourists who visited India last year was pegged at 4.43 million as compared to 3.92 million in 2005, 3.46 million in 2004 and 2.72 million in 2003.

UNI