India wants to double tourist numbers by 2016

India looking to double 6.3m tourists

The Indian tourist board is on a major drive to double the number of visitors to the country by 2016.

Foreign tourist arrivals in India reached 6.29 million in 2011. As of May this year, this figure was 2.8 million, the Press Trust of India reports.

Speaking to the news provider on the sidelines of the Incredible India Road Show in Dubai, tourism minister Subodh Kant Sahai said he wanted to start to reverse the trend that sees four times as many outbound tourists as inbound visitors.

“We need 200,000 rooms in India,” he said. “We need exhibition centres, convention centres, theme parks etcetera. There is scope for promoting wellness tourism [and] medical tourism by propagating ayurveda and yoga. We have the Himalayas; we have 7,000 km of coastal areas that are all potential tourist attractions.”

The tourist board also launched a new scheme to ensure the country’s major landmarks stay litter free.

Written by Nicholas Scott

Find cheap flights to India with Southall Travel