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UP govt bets on tourism to create 500,000 jobs, Rs 50 bn investment per yr

The policy was released by Up's tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi and it also emphasizes upon ensuring safety of women tourists

Yogi

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with State Urban Development Minister Suresh Khanna at a press conference at Vidhan Bhawan in Lucknow (Photo: PTI)

Press Trust of India 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 today.

The key aspect of ensuring the 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 upto 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 building 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 to add that emphasis will be on extending safety and security of all tourists, especially women.

"Investment opportunities would be offered within 20 km of all tourist sites of the ten tourism circuits including the Ramayana circuit, Krishna-Braj circuit, Buddhist circuit, Wildlife and Ecotourism circuit, Bundelkhand circuit, Mahabharata circuit, Shakti Peeth circuit, Aadhyatmik circuit, Sufi-Kabir circuit and Jain circuit," the minister added.

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First Published: Feb 19 2018 | 7:56 PM IST

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