Invest in tourism sector: Soni to corporates

Mumbai, May 4 (UNI) Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni today said poor infrastructure and lack of hygiene facilities were the biggest impediments to improving the tourism potential in India and urged the corporate sector to invest in the sector.

Ms Soni said the corporate sector should invest and partner in the growth of the tourism sector.

She said with the economy growing at over 8 per cent and a 350 million strong middle class, tourism could be a great factor in the economy of the country.

She said she was making efforts to increase contribution of tourism to GDP from the present 5.8 per cent to 8-9 per cent in the not so distant future.

The Minister said the tourism in the country was growing at 15 per cent and nearly 45 lakh foreign tourists had visited India in 2006.

She said tourism has generated employment even for the rural artisans, where the other sectors like information technology (IT) had failed.

Listing out a number of efforts undertaken by her Ministry, Ms Soni said the Ministry was focusing on a number of niche tourism themes like adventure, wildlife, wellness, medical, rural, MICE and Buddhist tourism.

She said cities in Maharashtra and Kerala have been identified and facilities have been upgraded there for promoting Monsoon tourism.

The Tourism and Culture Minister said the ''Bed and Breakfast'' scheme was aimed at encouraging residential owners to start their own home-stay facility and earn supplementary income for housewives.

She said her Ministry had taken a number of steps towards connecting heritage sites by special tourist trains, taking up issues related to airlines connectivity, modernisation and upgradation of airports.

However, she expressed unhappiness at the poor infrastructure and lack of hygiene which, she said, was a major factor inhibiting growth of tourism in the country.

''The Incredible India campaign would be a great failure if we did not address these shortcomings,'' she said.

The Minister hoped that the government's 5-year tax holiday for budget hotels in the National Capital Region (NCR) would be extended to the entire country in view of shortage of nearly 1.5 lakh hotel rooms.

On the occasion, Ms Soni gave away Reader's Digest Trusted Brand Awards 2007 to corporate leaders. In the finance category, LIC won the Platinum award, while ICICI and SBI won the Gold each.

UNI