A brand ambassador himself for decades, Telugu superstar K Chiranjeevi today took charge of the Tourism Ministry and began selling 'Incredible India' by promising to increase the number of tourist arrivals and easing restrictions for film shooting in the country.
It was action from the word 'start' for the 57-year-old actor, who resolved to use his "glamour quotient" and decades of experience in the tinsel world to improve tourism infrastructure and increase to 1 per cent the total number of tourists to India worldwide.
After assuming office, Chiranjeevi did some plain speaking when he said the "full capacity" of the tourism industry is not being realised and promised to remove "bottlenecks" which are impeding the growth of the sector after talking to his colleagues in other ministries.
"India has everything, from mountains to backwaters to monuments. How far are we making use of them? Certainly not to the fullest of the capacity. Currently, India receives only 0.65 per cent of tourist arrivals in the world. If we make it to 1 per cent then it would be a big achievement," he said.
Increasing the figure to 1 per cent would mean generation of employment for an additional 2.5 crore people, substantial increase in tourism sector's contribution to the country's the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) from the current 6.5 per cent to 10 per cent, the new Minister said.
He also added that he will seek the cooperation of Cinestars in promotion of “incredible India”
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