With a target of 12 per cent growth in tourist arrivals, the tourism sector is expected to generate 2.5 crore jobs during the 12th Five-Year Plan.

"We have targeted 12 per cent growth in inbound as well as domestic tourists during the 12th Plan period. This growth will generate 2.5 crore jobs, both direct and indirect, in tourism sector during this period,"Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said while presenting National Awards for excellence in hospitality education for the year 2010-11, here today. 

Our effort is to attract five million more inbound tourists in the next five years. In March we have about 13 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals and I am hopeful that we will achieve it," Sahai said.

There are about 6.2 million foreign tourists in the country last year. He said the direct employment in hospitality sector will also be substantial.

"Hospitality industry needs about 2 lakh trained persons every year but the supply is just about 18,000 persons, which gets further reduced to about 12,000 persons after adjusting an attrition of about 30 to 35 per cent."

Sahai said, "As per our estimate, by the close of the Eleventh Plan, our efforts to expand the institutional infrastructure and broad-basing of hospitality education through universities, colleges, ITIs, polytechnics and schools is expected to increase the supply of trained persons in a major way."

Referring to gross budgetary support, Sahai said there is about 10 per cent increase in the budgetary support for the ministry than the last year grant. We have to attract private investment more aggressively now. The revenue generating scheme will be done more aggressively to meet the target."

He said the efforts of the Central government, though important, have to be necessarily supplementary and catalytic and here our IHMs and FCIs have to raise themselves to the level of institutes of excellence to spur and stimulate similar efforts in the private sector.

He urged the institutes to make "earnest effort to raise their standards" so as to be acceptable internationally, to become model institutes.

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