JAIPUR: State tourism minister Vishvendra Singh on Sunday said that the government is planning to re-develop 23 old airstrips in public-private partnership (PPP) mode to promote tourism in rural areas of the state.
Delivering the inaugural address at the G20 Tourism Expo here, Singh said, “Under our newly introduced rural tourism policy, we are going to re-develop 23 airstrips with private sector support. This will provide a big impetus to tourism in Rajasthan, especially in rural areas, and create humongous employment opportunities.”
He cited the Kishangarh airport as an example, saying it has been attracting flyers since it was re-developed. He said the state government has announced a slew of policy measures to promote film, wildlife and rural tourism.
Singh said that Rajasthan has formulated a path-breaking rural tourism policy which other states should emulate. “The policy is expected to boost wildlife tourism, cultural and religious tourism across the state,” said Singh. Union tourism secretary Arvind Singh said that about 70 million direct and indirect jobs were generated through tourism in the country in 2021-22.
He said that besides this job-generating potential, the tourism sector has huge impact on the GDP of the country. Keeping the importance of the sector in view, the Centre is trying to improve rail, road and air connectivity which are key to the growth of the sector, said Singh.
“Amid India’s G20 presidency, India’s tourism sector is showing one of the strongest recoveries in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, India registered 6.19 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2022, registering a 305% growth as compared to 1.52 million in 2021. To promote tourism further, we plan to promote green tourism and open up 50 new tourism destinations and launch publicity campaigns in overseas markets,” Singh said. The tourism ministry has already organised G20-tourism working group meetings and is exploring the promotion of green tourism, digitalisation, skill development, promotion of MSMEs, and destination management, Singh said.
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