India is poised to receive 1.1bn tourists in 3 years
Presently India receives about 7 million foreign tourists annually and the target is to get one per cent share of the global tourist arrivals which is around 1.1 billion in three years, says Dr Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism.
Tourism continues to be one of the most important socio-economic activities globally and it is very relevant for India’s economy as well. An
` investment of 10 lakh generates 18 jobs in agriculture, 45 jobs in manufacturing and 78 jobs in the tourism sector hence tourism plays an important component in the socio-economic development of the country.
Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Tourism, Culture and Civil Aviation says that India is poised to receive one per cent of global tourists in three years. Discussing this at Dr. Sharma says, “Presently, India receives about 7 million foreign tourists annually and the target is to get one per cent share of the global tourist arrivals which is around 1.1 billion in three years. The Union Government introduced Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) for 43 countries on 27th November, 2014, looking at the progress of this.” Dr. Sharma adds, “In the last five weeks, the total number of visas issued online has crossed the figure of 22,179. These 43 countries covered about 42 per cent of the source market for Indian Tourism at the world level and Ministry of Home Affairs has been requested to include China, UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy also in this list of ETA countries. These countries would bring in 20 per cent of world tourism market for India.”