LUCKNOW: The Yogi Adityanath government has set an ambitious target of generating five lakh jobs every year, attracting Rs 5000 crore investment and increasing the arrival of foreign tourists by ten per cent in Uttar Pradesh’s new tourism policy which was unveiled here.
The key aspect of ensuring safety of women tourists, in a state where law and order is a major issue, also finds a prominent mention in the policy, which was released by UP’s tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi.
Another highlight is the plan to set up 50 heritage hotels in the country’s largest state.
‘The policy will be applicable for five years and has set a target of increasing by 15 per cent, domestic, and by 10 per cent foreign tourist arrivals. The sector will generate five lakh direct or indirect jobs and attract an investment of Rs 5,000 crore per year,” Joshi said.
The new policy targets attracting one lakh additional tourists to national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the state and also to convert ten heritage buildings to heritage hotels per year.
“The focus will be on promotion of eco-tourism. Efforts will be made to explore local entrepreneurship avenues through execution of fairs and festivals,” Bahuguna said.
The tourism department will create a land bank for promoting tourism in the state, she added.
“The new tourism policy will help make UP the most preferred tourism destination,” Bahuguna claimed adding that emphasis will be on extending safety and security of all tourists, especially women.
“Investment opportunities would be offered within 20 kms of all tourist sites of the ten tourism circuits including the Ramayana circuit, Krishna-Braj circuit, Buddhist circuit, Wildlife and Eco tourism circuit, Bundelkhand circuit, Mahabharata circuit, Shakti Peeth circuit, Aadhyatmik circuit, Sufi-Kabir circuit and Jain circuit,” the minister added.-PTI
