KOCHI: The State Government is planning investments of Rs. 1,000 crores in the tourism sector this year, which will provide up to 50,000 jobs, said Minister for Home and Tourism Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.

Giving the keynote address at a seminar on tourism, held in connection with the World Malayalee Council Global Conference, here on Sunday, the Minister said the State would set up a tourism investment promotion cell to provide guidance to investors and make it a single-window system devoid of red tape.

He said the State was also devising schemes to improve tourism infrastructure. Health tourism would be one of the main targets of the Government.

The Minister said that over the next five years, an effort would be on to make Kerala one of the five destinations among the world for health tourism. He said the Government would provide all support to non-resident Indians who took up projects in this sector.

Development in Malabar

An area of focus for the growth of tourism was the Malabar region, Mr. Balakrishnan said. Wayanad and Kasaragod would be specially taken up for development.

An airport at Kannur would provide the right impetus for tourist traffic to the region, and the Government was trying to get sanction for the same, he said.

Over the last five years, the average growth of foreign tourist traffic was 14.39 per cent.

Last year alone had brought in 3.46 lakhs of them, the Minister said.

Jose Dominic, managing director of cgh Earth, presented a paper on the occasion.

Hospitals for women

Earlier, Minister for Health P.K. Sreemathy, who spoke at a health seminar, said the Government was planning to set up hospitals exclusively for women and children in all districts.

She called upon private hospitals to come up with schemes to provide medical care for the poor.

Some private hospitals had taken up a few programmes, but these efforts were not enough. Earlier medical treatment was not so commercialised. Efforts should be made to provide treatment to the poor at affordable costs, she added. Jose Chacko Periapuram, cardiac surgeon, and Georgy K. Nainan, nephrologists, presented papers. The concept of a global village project, mooted by the World Malayalee Council, was presented on the occasion by Rajan George, Bureau of Business Consultants.

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