Oct 14, 2008

9500 lakh jobs in tourism sector by 2010

Government expects that around 950 million jobs would be created in the tourism sector by 2010,

"Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) have increased considerably in the recent years from about 3.46 million in 2004 to 5.08 million in 2007. During January and July 2008, the FTA was around 3.14 million as compared to 2.38 million during the corresponding period of previous year," Prabhakar Dubey, director in the ministry, said at a conference.

Along with FTAs, the number of domestic tourists have also risen from 366 million in 2004 to 526 million last year.

The ministry, he said, has launched rural tourism schemes through community participation and about 130 rural project sites have been identified in 27 states to promote traditional rural arts, crafts and culture to attract visitors and provide them with authentic and traditional experience.

Of these, 36 sites are ready to receive visitors, he added. More