Tourism created 14.62 million jobs in four years: Tourism Minister
Tourism Sector has created 14.62 million jobs during the last four years, thus becoming the leading sector in the economy in terms of job creation, said Minister for State for Tourism (I/C), K J Alphons. He said that all segments of the society benefit from the tourism sector, as it creates employment opportunities at all levels.
The Tourism Minister was speaking after interacting with Ambassadors of foreign missions in Delhi on bilateral tourism. Around 20 Ambassadors attended the meeting which included Finland, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Russia, Malaysia, Russia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, etc. “Engaging the Ambassadors of countries is important to promote bilateral tourism,” said the minister.
Reiterating the government’s vision to double the foreign tourist arrivals and foreign exchange receipts in the coming three years, Alphons said that the goal is to grow the tourism receipts from the current USD 27 billion to USD 55 billion in the next three years.
The Ministry is planning to focus heavily on Chinese outbound to achieve that growth. Apart from activating the India Tourism office in Beijing, Ministry is also planning roadshows in China by end of August. “Out of approximately 144 million Chinese outbound, India gets only a meagre 2.5 lakh Chinese tourist,” the Minister said.