The Vice President, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar today described India as “heaven for tourism”and asked the Indians to explore domestic tourist destinations first before looking at international travel. Referring to Bharat’s long civilizational history and rich cultural heritage, he underlined that most of the tourist places in the country have a deep connect with our history, folk arts and ancient texts.
Addressing a gathering after presenting National Tourism Awards for the year 2018-19 at VigyanBhawan in New Delhi today the Vice President termed tourism a key driver of economic growth and employment generation in the country.
Referring to multiple dimensions to the tourism, the Vice President stressed the need for fully leveraging the India’s immense potential in the field of medical tourism as well as the growing global interest in our ancient practices of healing such as Ayurveda and Yoga.
Appreciating the Government’s efforts for the development of the tourism sector in the country, Shri Dhankhar said that the development of tourism infrastructure has been accompanied with innovative initiatives such as Dekho Apna Desh and Utsav Portal.
Shri Dhankhar praised the Ministries of Tourism and Culture for bringing out the stories of many unsung freedom fighters as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.Noting the importance of National Tourism Awards in motivating the travel and tourism sectors, the Vice President congratulated the award winners for their hard work and excellence.
He also congratulated the Ministry of Tourism for celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav iconic week from today. On this occasion, the Vice President also released ‘India Tourism Statistics 2022’ and launched an e-book GoBeyond:75 Experiences of North India.
Shri G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, Shri Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State, Tourism and Culture, Shri Arvind Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri Rakesh Kumar Verma, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri G. Kamala Vardhan Rao, Director General, Ministry of Tourism and other dignitaries attended the award ceremony.