The umbrella forum of Indian tourism and travel industry has urged the Centre to set up a high level inter-ministerial committee to work out and implement urgent measures required to expedite growth of Indian tourism to keep apace with global trends.

"The decision to appoint an inter-ministerial committee is indeed a laudable step as there are more than 14 different ministries and agencies involved in promoting tourism. Now the industry looks forward to constituting the committee," said Vivek Nair, chairman of World Travel and Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII) recently.

The government as well as the industry had set a target of taking foreign tourist arrivals from five million to 10 million by 2015. But this required certain critical policy decisions and support from the government.

It was with this view that an inter-ministerial committee was proposed a month back to work out recommendations, Nair, also MD of hospitality major Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts, said.

"Tourism is already a major employment generating sector. If 2015 targets are achieved, the number of jobs offered by Indian tourism would leap from 50 million to 80 million," he said.

As the umbrella body of leading airline, hospitality and travel services, WTTCII has put forward several suggestions to accelerate growth of the tourism in view of the country?s high potential and world trends, he said.

(You need to login first to read complete news).
New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News