India eyes 5 million American tourists in 3 years

New Delhi, Sept 1: To realise immense job potential offered by tourism and high unit value brought by American tourists, India should target attracting 5 million tourists from the US in the next three years, a top official said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an event here, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said if India wants to create jobs, tourism needs to be pushed as its multiplier impact is "absolutely humongous".

"We get about 1.2 million American tourists. They comprise 16 per cent of our total arrivals. My view is we should target getting about 5 million American tourists in the next three years. This is very doable," he said.

Kant said America is the most important destination for promoting travel and tourism and marketing Brand India.

"India must go all out to nurture this market," he said, and added that the American tourists bring a huge amount of "high unit value realisation and India should look at value rather than just numbers".

Speaking at the event organised by the CII, US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker said "the idea that our governments right now are focussed on increasing travel and tourism is a huge opportunity for both of our countries".

It is a huge job creator, economic driver and a great way for our two nations to get to know each other, she remarked.

PTI