Every tourist destination should develop its revenue model: PM Modi

PM Modi at Belagavi, Karnataka on February 27, 2023.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 3 said that each tourist destination should have its revenue model, adding that the sector has huge employment and investment opportunities.

"Every tourist destination should develop its revenue model. A lot of employment opportunities exist in tourism. 50 tourist destinations should be developed across India. Stakeholders should come up with suggestions to boost tourism," he said while addressing a post-budget webinar on developing tourism in mission mode.

Modi said that destination weddings have a huge scope of developing as an ecosystem as India's middle and upper classes are increasingly opting for it.

"Destination weddings are emerging as a tourism trend," he said.

The government has started a vibrant village scheme to boost tourism in the border areas as villages are also becoming tourist spots.

The Prime Minister said that the tourism sector can get a boost with an increase in civil amenities and digital connectivity.

"States need to revisit their tourism policy. Eight lakh foreign tourists visited India in January alone. We should also focus our tourism policies around birdwatching," Modi said.

With renovations and revamping a lot of tourist destinations are now attracting more tourists.

Kashi Vishwanath Dham after the renovation has a tourist footfall of 7 crore people. 15 lakh tourists are now visiting Kedarnath and the Statue of Unity has been visited by 27 lakh tourists.

Modi said that India's tourist spots have been neglected since Independence and there is a need to boost different varieties of tourism including Himalayan tourism, wildlife tourism, spiritual tourism, heritage tourism, north-east tourism, etc.

"We have to transform the tourist sector with out-of-the-box thinking and long-term planning," he said.