staff Reporter
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today stressed on the need to think out of the box and do long-term planning to give a new height to the tourism sector in the country.
Addressing a post-budget webinar on boosting India’s tourism potential PM highlighted the huge scope of tourism in India and listed out coastal, beach, mangrove, Himalayan, adventure, wildlife, eco, heritage, spiritual, wedding destinations and sports tourism in this direction.
He also gave the example of Ramayan Circuit, Buddha Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Northeast Circuit, Gandhi Circuit, and pilgrimages of all saints and stressed the need to work together collectively on this.
The Prime Minister informed that several places in India have been identified through the route of competitive spirit and challenge in this year’s Union Budget.
Highlighting that tourism has always been part of India’s social and cultural civilization, Mr. Modi said, if the country develops more facilities, it will increase tourist footfall. He also said tourists are attracted when there is ease of travelling and Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi and Kedarnath Dham are live models.
Mr. Modi said around 80 lakh people used to visit the Kashi Vishwanath Dham in Varanasi in a year before it was rebuilt, but the tourist footfall crossed seven crores last year after the renovation.
The Prime Minister said, civil amenities, digital connectivity, cleanliness and better infrastructure will be helpful for boosting tourism adding that increased tourist footfall will encourage a huge potential for employment opportunities.
Saying that villages are becoming centers of tourism in the country, the Prime Minister remarked that remote villages are now coming up on the tourism map due to their improving infrastructure.
He informed that the Central Government has started the Vibrant Village Scheme for the villages situated along the border and emphasized the need to support businesses including homestays, small hotels and restaurants.
Talking about the increasing number of foreign tourists in India, the Prime Minister underlined the need to profile such tourists and create a special strategy to attract them to the country. He insisted on developing 50 such tourist destinations that every tourist from around the globe is bound to visit on his trip to India.
He also mentioned developing apps for tourist destinations in all languages listed in the United Nations. Mr. Modi said all languages should be incorporated while designing the content for tourism and asked to further modernize tourists apps and digital connectivity. He said it should be available in all UN languages and Indian languages.
Mr. Modi also highlighted the basic challenge of the tourism sector and pointed out the lack of professional tourist guides.
The Prime Minister stressed on promoting school and college trips to the northeast so that more people become aware and start developing infrastructure and facilities for tourists.