New Delhi, Sep 27 (UNI) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Monday emphasised on use of Information Technology tools in promoting tourism both at the domestic and international levels.
Delivering a keynote address at the programme 'Tourism for Inclusive Growth' organised by the Ministry of Tourism, today, to mark the World Tourism Day, 2021, Birla said committed and collective efforts will ensure that India will emerge as the best tourist destination in the world.
Tourism is one of the growth engines of economy and employment, he said. Therefore, special focus is needed for further development of this sector, Birla added.
Speaking on the roadmap for boosting tourism, the Lok Sabha Speaker suggested that ambitious and sustained efforts are needed to promote rural tourism.
This will strengthen rural economy by creating demands for handicrafts and other rural products, he said.
On this occasion, the Lok Sabha Speaker launched NIDHI 2.0 (National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry) and released 'India Tourism Statistics: At a Glance, 2021'. NIDHI 2.0 data base which was released today will be a milestone in this endeavour, Birla hoped.
The Ministry of Tourism, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and The Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) have signed an MoU to actively promote and support 'sustainability initiatives' in the tourism sector, which was also exchanged at the event.
While addressing the gathering, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said, 'The tourism sector is one of those few sectors which have suffered a lot due to this pandemic and the early resumption of tourism is very important for the recovery and growth of this sector.'
'As on date, India has already administered over 85 crores vaccination doses to its citizens. With the ongoing aggressive vaccination strategy, we are now a step closer to the reopening of the country to tourism in the beginning of the new year,' he said.
'I am grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his relentless focus on vaccination,' he added.
Reddy said, 'The Prime Minister's vision has been to use Tourism as a tool for employment generation and inclusive development.' The tourism sector has the highest job creating potential among the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors, he added.
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