India for more tourism among South Asian countries

NEW DELHI - Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay on Friday called for more cooperation amongst the South Asian countries to promote tourism in the region.

Inaugurating the 18th South Asia Travel and Tour Expo (SATTE) 2011 here, Sahay said, it is the opportune time for all tourism organisations and stake holders in the region to get together and address issues that are common and relevant for the growth of tourism in the region.

Emphasising that there is a need for secured tourism, Sahay said: “More trained and skilled tourism professionals are required for the fast developing tourism industry.

The Minister said India can offer its training facilities to the people from south Asian countries. He was of the opinion that India has tremendous scope for the growth of eco, rural and medical tourism.

The Tourism Minister further said that we are monitoring and analyzing the global tourism trends to maintain our competitiveness.

“We are increasing our collaboration and improving information exchange mechanism with the industry, other countries, international organizations and educational institutions. Our endeavour remains to exchange data and information on the latest trends and strategies with other countries at regular intervals,” he added.

He said that the linkage and cooperation with the industry is going to be the key for the future of tourism growth in the region.

“In our efforts to develop inbound tourism to the South Asian region and intra-regional tourism, we should make the industry our major partner and lead player, he added.

He expressed hope that the conference will come out with a concrete road map for development of tourism in south Asia.

South Asia Travel and Tour Expo plays an important role in showcasing the tourism potential of the South Asian region and provides a platform for tourism stakeholders in the region to interact with buyers from across the world with the objective of promoting tourism to the region. (ANI)