Tourist arrivals to increase by 12-15% per annum till 2010

The Government projected a 12 to 15 per cent increase every year in the arrival of tourists in the country till 2010 when India hosts its maiden Commonwealth Games. The Ministry of Tourism is in touch with the governments of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and agencies like the DDA, Indian Railways and Airport Authority of India (AAI) for allocating more sites for hotels to accomodate the visitors. Government has assessed that a total of 30,000 rooms would be required in the National Capital Region to accomodate tourists and visitors arriving for the Games, Union Minister of Tourism Ambika Soni said. The Tourism Ministry has urged these agencies to consider higher FAR for hotels and allowing land use change so that private entrepreneurs owning land are also allowed to build hotels, she said. It will also ask them to adopt annual rental payment in place of outright auction of plots to promote budget hotels, she added.

Besides, the government is planning to rope in residents who can offer vacant rooms to tourists under the "Incredible India Bed and Breakfast" scheme. Soni said the Ministry has spent Rs 41 crore in the last two years on exhibitions and cultural events in the country and abroad to raise awareness about India's cultural richness. "The great interest in modern Indian art and Indian cultural programmes is an outcome of these promotions," she said. Soni said that the government has sanctioned projects worth Rs 3,037.39 lakh for improving tourism in Madhya Pradesh including development of Gwalior-Orchha-Khajuraho and Sanchi-Bhopal-Bhojpur- Dhimbetka-Pachmarhi circuits. In Maharashtra, the Ministry is developing Kunkeshwar as a destination, Kolhapur and Mumbai fort circuits and Kalidas, Elephanta, Chikaldhara and Ellora under the fairs and festivals category during 2006-07, she added.

In Karnataka, the Ministry has prioritised Hampi and Linganamakki for destination development, Bangalore Habba, Hampi and Karavali under the fairs and festivals category and Bijapur-Bidar-Gulbarga as a tourist circuit. A Rs one crore project to document about 25,000 to 30,000 unprotected monuments scattered across Karnataka to prepare a comprehensive illustrative directory is also underway, she said. The government has sanctioned Rs 1,145 crore this fiscal for repairs and maintenance of centrally-protected monuments in Karnataka. Around 140 monuments in the state fall under special conservation category, she added. She said the total allocation for development of tourism during the year 2006-07 is Rs 830 crore.

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