The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Advani's call to tour operators

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 04, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Advani's call to tour operators

Special Correspondent

Urges them to raise their voice against naxalism and terrorism

HYDERABAD: Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha L. K. Advani has asked travel and tour operators to raise their voice against naxalism and terrorism as they have a direct bearing on the travel and tourism industry.

Participating as the chief guest at the valedictory of the 55th convention of the Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI) here on Sunday, he said the "stronger is the voice raised against them, the greater will be the response to the menace."

Concept of `suraksha'

The concept of suraksha (safety) would affect the travel and tourism industry in that the occurrence of any incident of terror would make people rethink about their travel plans. Moreover, the internal security situation in the country would have an impact on the external perceptions associated with incidents of terror.

The mood on tourism development was, however, upbeat in the country with the earnings from the sector almost doubling over the past few years. Against the revenue of Rs. 15,000 crores generated during 2002-03, the earnings had gone up to Rs. 26,000 crores by the end of the financial year 2004-05.

After the Information Technology sector, travel and tourism was one sector that offered immense potential for revenue as well as employment generation. While the number of domestic tourists in the country was 375 million in 2005, the number of international tourists was as low as only four million. In view of this, there was a need for harnessing the potential by augmenting the hardware and software of the sector to attract more tourists, he said. Mr. Advani, earlier, presented awards to the best stall design, best cultural showcase and best creative marketing promotion instituted by TAAI.

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