Rajasthan needs to improve its ranking for tourist arrivals'

Jaipur, April 6 (IANS) Rajasthan needs to improve its ranking for tourist arrivals, a senior state government official said on Wednesday.

The desert state ranks 6th in the country in foreign tourist arrivals and 10th in domestic tourist arrivals, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Gayatri A. Rathore said, adding that her Department stands committed to improve the rankings for both categories of arrivals and take it to among the top 3 in the country.

"This is the aim with which the Department is proactively working," she said at the signing of an MoU between her Department and the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) for organising the 'Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) 2022', slated to be held July 22-24.

Rathore said that the event will play a significant role in boosting the domestic tourist arrivals in Rajasthan in the opening up after the Covid pandemic. Tourist arrivals to the state have already increased as have foreign tourist arrivals with the opening up of the international flights, she added.

Noting tourism contributes 9 per cent to the state's economy and is responsible for providing, directly and indirectly, 50 lakh jobs, she said that it is only appropriate that the government has accorded high priority to the sector and cited the recent tourism-friendly budget.

A large number of policies are on the anvil which will promote tourism in a big way. Among these policies are New Tourism Unit Policy, Home Stay Policy, Rural Tourism Policy, Heritage Scheme, and Full Tourism Policy, Rathore added.

The MoU was signed between the Director of Tourism, Nishant Jain and FHTR President, Apurv Kumar.