PM announces Tourism Advisory Council

in a bid to boost tourism, prime minister atal bihari vajpayee today announced setting up of a tourism advisory council at the national level to promote continuous interaction among various players in the tourism sector. inaugurating a conference of chief ministers and state tourism ministers here, the prime minister said the council will have representatives of the centre and state governments, mps, industry representatives and eminent public figures. i would like similar councils to be set up in states, he said, regretting that despite possessing a vast tourism potential, the country had failed to tap even a small portion of it. noting that efforts to promote tourism had failed because of inability to adopt an integrated approach, he said the government has prepared a draft new tourism policy in the backdrop of a decidedly below-par performance by india. admitting that 'inadequate attention' had been paid to tourism's linkages with civil aviation, railways, inter-state and inner-city road transport, power and water supply, vajpayee said lack of uniformity in taxes, laws and regulation also added to this problem. these problems are further compounded by the complexity and multiplicity of taxes, he said, adding that there was an urgent need to rationalise both central and state taxes on the tourism and travel industry. vajpayee said the terrorist attack in the us had affected many sectors of global economy and tourism and aviation were the worst hit. he said tourism would make a major contribution to the eventual defeat of terrorism and all other manifestations of fanaticism. expressing anguish over india's meagre share in global tourism, he said it is a matter of both irony and concern that we have, at 3.8 million, more indians going abroad than the 2.6 million foreigners who visit india. this calls for serious introspection and a comprehensive analysis of all the factors that are impeding the growth of this vital sector, he said. asserting that tourism had a great capacity to create large scale employment of diverse kinds, the prime minister said that with the current slump in international tourism, it had become even more urgent for india to strengthen domestic travel industry with region specific strategies. the new policy should focus on tapping the enormous tourism potential in the eastern and north-eastern states, he stressed.

PM announces Tourism Advisory Council

IN a bid to boost tourism, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today announced setting up of a tourism advisory council at the national level to promote continuous interaction among various players in the tourism sector.

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