Mumbai, July 5 (IANS) India is aiming to attract one percent of the total world tourist arrivals by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), says Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai.
“Tourism will be made a sector for employment generation and economic generation. Our target is to attain one percent of the world tourist arrivals by the end of the 12th Five Year Plan,” Sahai said at the 8th Indo-American Corporate Excellence Awards function here late Wednesday.
Foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2011 was 6.29 million and the country earned $16.56 billion in foreign exchange.
Of these, nearly 16 percent of the tourists came from the US, Sahai said, adding the need to promote tourism between India and the US as the latter was the top source for inbound tourism to this country.
On this front, the minister said India has 33 functional Institutes of Hotel Management comprising 21 Central IHMs and 12 state IHMs and six food craft institutes.
The minister said faculty exchange programmes can be organised between the human resource development institutes in the two countries for promotion of tourism.
