New Delhi: G Kamala Vardhan Rao, Director General, Union Ministry of Tourism, has emphasized on the need to develop and showcase newer tourist destinations to attract more travellers from both domestic and international countries. “We should collectively work to ensure that new destinations come up with basic infrastructure,” he added.

Addressing the 7th ‘National Tourism Investors Meet 2022’ organized by FICCI here recently, Rao invited the investors to invest in the tourism sector. “India is going to host the G-20 meetings next year and it will be organized across various states and cities. The states are also investing heavily to build infrastructure. I urge investors to come forward and invest in the hospitality sector,” he stated.

Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, stated that the government is working to increase the number of airports in the country to 200 by 2024 from 140 airports. She further stated that aviation and tourism are complimenting sectors. “Air connectivity needs to be in tandem with what the tourism sector is doing,” she added.

Rajni Hasija, Chairperson and MD, IRCTC, said that IRCTC has the plan to expand its hospitality business and develop various properties under the PPP model. “This is the opportunity for the industry to join our hands in developing various destinations and promoting domestic tourism. Everyone has to work together to promote the industry and IRCTC is also working to promote film tourism in a big way,” she added.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Committee and CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, said that India needs to have a very robust domestic tourism and we can’t entirely rely on international tourism. “We need to go beyond the areas that are unexplored. Connectivity is one of the biggest shortcomings that we have to improve,” she added. /BI/