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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for out of the box thinking and long term planning to transform the tourism sector in the country.

Addressing a post-budget webinar on boosting 'Developing Tourism Mission', the Prime Minister said, “In the context of India, the scope of tourism is huge and is a part of our culture and tradition since ages.”

Budget 2023 talked about selecting some tourist destinations in the country and developing those further in a competitive spirit, said the Prime Minister, adding that technology should be leveraged to this end. “We should develop at least 50 destinations which will appear on the list for tourists whenever they think of visiting India,” he said.

While presenting the Union Budget 2023 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said promotion of tourism would go into mission mode. The Ministry of Tourism was allocated Rs 2,400 crore in the budget and a slew of measures were announced for promotion and branding.

A few of these measures are the development of 50 new tourist destinations, creation of an information-driven app for tourists, Vibrant Village Programme to encourage tourism in border villages, and setting up of ‘Unity Malls’ in State capitals to promote local handicrafts and products.

Noting that recreational travel is no longer limited to the well-off, the Prime Minister said infrastructural overhaul and novel ways of promotion would facilitate ease of travel to places whose tourism potential has been mostly untapped. “If civic amenities increase, there is good digital connectivity, hotels and hospitals, India's tourism sector can grow manifold,” PM Modi said. Citing the example of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham, he said the rejuvenation of the religious site boosted tourist footfall with over 7 crore people visiting it last year.

PM Modi pointed out that the tourism industry should tap into the growing popularity of destination weddings. Special packages can be announced for such destinations and it would encourage people to hold their wedding ceremony in different states, he said and added that the employment potential the tourism sector holds is a significant thing to be recognised and utilised.

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