Govt targets 1 cr foreign tourists by 2010

New Delhi, Sep 4 (UNI) Buoyed by strong economic fundamentals and positive tourism trends, the government has set a target of 10 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2010, double the 2007 arrivals of 5.08 million, a senior official said today.

Achievement of the target generate inflow of an additional USD 9 billion in foreign exchange earnings and create 15 million additional jobs, Tourism Secretary Shilabhadra Banerjee said at a function here.

He said while tourism arrivals grew at 14.3 per cent, foreign exchange receipts increased by 24.3 per cent in 2007. In absolute terms, 5.08 million foreign tourists visited India and spent USD 10.73 billion last year, he added.

Mr Banerjee said share of tourism in India's GDP and employment for 2008 is projected to grow to 6.36 per cent and 10.17 per cent, respectively, up from 5.83 per cent of the GDP and 8.27 per cent of total employment in 2002-03.

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