On world tourism day, union finance minister Arun Jaitley criticised the previous Congress-led UPA government for ignoring tourism industry and advocated the need to frame policies to help the sector.
After laying the foundation stone for the new building of tourism ministry on Sunday, Jaitley said, “I regret to say that former governments didn’t make policies which could have enhanced tourism in the country. In fact, they formed such policies which made tourism sector weak.”
He said that India has the huge potential to attract tourists but at the same time there is a need to frame policies in such a way which will help the industry in the future.
“The country has the longest sea shore, huge forests, religious places and culture which have the capacity to attract tourists,” he added.
He also pointed out towards a need to build more infrastructure, especially airports in the country. He remarked, “India should increase its airline capacity from 5 to 10 percent to cater to more foreign tourist in the country.”