With a 5.29 per cent tourism growth in 2011, the state government has identified four villages of Katli, Bahadarpur, Tibba Tapparian and Ranjitpura Bas to be developed with infrastructure to provide a 'new experience' to the tourists visiting the state.
Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Sarwan Singh Phillaur said here today that the area of interest possessed unique tourism attributes of predominantly rural natural heritage around the picturesque environs of the Sutlej.
Expressing satisfaction over the increase in the number of tourists visiting Punjab in 2011, Phillaur claimed that the prime objective of promoting rural tourism was to bring the visitors closer to the rich cultural heritage of Punjab.
Altogether 10.11 million tourists visited Punjab in 2011 compared to 10.05 million in 2010, Phillaur said and gave credit for this to the strong domestic and foreign visitors arrivals.
An Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry report anticipated the tourism sector to grow till 2019 by 8.8 per cent per year, he said.
As per the report, he said, the tourism sector would develop as the second largest employer in the world with about 40 million jobs placing India at the third position in world tourism market with capital investment worth USD 94.5 billion by 2019 in the tourism and travel sector.