42 mln jobs generated in tourism sector: Ambika Soni

New Delhi, Aug 23 (UNI) As many as 42 millions jobs have been created directly and indirectly through tourism in the past three years, the Tourism Ministry has said.

''The tourism sector is now being considered as an industry which would create a large number of employment opportunity as well as help in uplifting the standards of the local population,'' Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni said while inaugurating the first-ever Hotel Association of India Conclave 2007 here today.

She said there will be a demand of 1,50,000 rooms in all categories of hotels by 2010. As many as 2,00,000 jobs had to be created for services in these rooms.

Ms Soni said her Ministry had worked out the requirement of Tourist Guides till 2010 in consultation with the Travel Trade and an action plan had been launched to meet the goal.

A scheme has also been launched to induct part-time guides for catering to special interest groups in various foreign languages.

These guides would be specialists in their respective fields and the educational qualifications expected from them was either a doctorate or a published paper in a university.

She called upon the hotel industry to create a pool of young Tourist Guides under the ''Earn While You Learn'' scheme of the Ministry to meet the growing demand of guides.

Ms Soni said she had written to all the Chief Ministers for creating land banks to build new hotels in view of the shortage of land and high prices.

In this context, she cited that Haryana has already responded positively and Uttar Pradesh had started working towards this direction.

The Minister said the Government is open to expansion of tourism sector through public private partnership.

She said the hotel industry should come forward to adopt atleast two historical monuments for illumination.

The two-day meeting will discuss among other things, strategy, balancing development with operations and other matters related to the hotel industry.

UNI