DRMumbai: K J Alphons, Tourism Minister of State (I/C), Govt. of India, said that the tourism sector alone has created 14.62 million job opportunities in the country in the last four years. Addressing the media in New Delhi, the Minister further elaborated that the tourism sector provides opportunities to skilled as well as unskilled job seekers, thereby, providing employment to all sections of the society.
The Minister added that Tourism Ministry is now focusing on promotional activities to bring attention of the tourists about the unexplored areas of North Eastern states of India, like the largest cave network of Asia in Meghalaya. Refuting the recent reports in the media on ‘Safety of women in India’, the Minister ascertained that India is safe for tourists and added that Ministry also has taken various initiatives to ensure safety and security of tourists. In view of this, the Minister said that guidelines on Safety and Security of Tourists have been issued for States/UTs, and 14 states already have Tourist Police in place.
“To promote the country abroad, the Ministry has conducted several ‘Incredible India Roadshows’ in the US, Europe. There are upcoming ones in China and Nordic countries. Three theme-based 60-second Incredible India videos have been released till date and it has received huge viewership in social media platforms.”
The Minister also added that more focus is being given to the cruise tourism sector with the Tourism Ministry investing Rs. 100 crore and the Shipping Ministry contributing a corpus of Rs. 250 crore. Cruise ports are being developed in Mumbai, where it coming up along an entertainment complex, and also Cruise jetties are being developed in Goa, Cochin, Chennai and Visakhapatnam.
