India becomes chairman of UN tourism body

This was announced at the ongoing United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference at Gyeongju, South Korea.

This was announced at the ongoing United Nations WorldTourism Organisation (UNWTO) conference at Gyeongju, SouthKorea.

The chairmanship of the commission was with Iran for thelast four years.

Addressing the UNWTO meeting, Tourism Minister Subodhkant Sahai, who is leading the Indian delegation at Gyeongju,said that it "signifies the confidence of various countries inIndia and the efforts of the Indian government in promotion oftourism in the country as well as across the globe inresponsible and sustainable manner to bring in inclusivegrowth."

Describing sustainable, safe and honourable tourism asthe pillars of India's strategy, he said the schemes andprogrammes implemented by Indian government are primarilyfocused on inclusive development, integrated with the overallanti-poverty strategy.

It has been estimated that by the year 2016-17, thegrowth in the tourism sector would enable additionalemployment generation of around 25 million persons. Therewould be a need for additional 42 million skilled persons inhospitality sector alone.

"We are therefore giving a major boost to the skilldevelopment in the sector by harnessing both public andprivate sector educational and training infrastructure of thecountry. We are also encouraging our academic institutes to goin for MOU's with reputed counterparts of other countries forachieving academic excellence," Sahai said.

Seeking the global organisation's active role in skilldevelopment programme, the minister said, "I would urge UNWTOto intensify its efforts in providing the support to membercountries in developing a skill development framework based onsuccessful best practices across the globe."

He said the government is in process of establishment ofSustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and indicatorsfor the accommodation sector and tour operators.

HT Image