With an aim to attract more global tourists, the government has decided to set up 20 tourism parks in the country on the pattern of Sentosa theme park on an island in Singapore.

Each tourism park, first-of-its-kind in the country, will have a hotel, convention centre, food street and entertainment and amusement facilities. According to the plan, the 20 tourism parks will be developed in a mission mode with an outlay of Rs 1,000 crore, a senior tourism ministry official said. Each park will come up at about 50 acres of land and will be equipped with adequate facilities such as haats, craft centres and amphitheatres for hosting cultural events.

"The basic idea is to hold tourists for longer period. There are such examples like Sentosa in Singapore," he said. The tourism park is likely to be developed through public-private participation (PPP) mode with the land being provided by the state government or private partner. "We are finalising the business model for developing tourism parks in the country.

The PPP model or Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of the government is being considered for executing the project," the official said. Besides, the tourism ministry is in the process of identifying 36 new tourist destinations across the country. These new destinations are being planned to be developed with private participation in the 12th Five-Year Plan period.