Budget windfall for Tourism, Aviation sectors

Tourism which acts a prime source of revenue income for the country witnessed a promising growth in the budget session held on Wednesday. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley weaved out immense possibilities for tourism and civil aviation sector by referring to the former as 'big employment generator'.

Jaitley said, "Five Special Tourism Zones, anchored on SPVs will be set up in partnership with the States. Incredible India 2.0 Campaign will be launched across the world."

The session which was dotted with new developments in these sectors, the most prominent was the introduction of five special zones that will be the foundation for a new tourism campaign. The aim is to accelerate the growth of tourism in India. On the other hand, the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for operation and maintenance of Tier II airports will be responsible for catering services based on international standard facilities.

Sources said that Modi-led government feels that coordinated development of both sectors could act as a catalyst to generate immense employment for skilled and unskilled manpower. "These zones will be theme-based and will showcase five bouquets of tourism," said officers in the Ministry of Tourism. They also stated that all zones will be well connected with airlines providing world class hospitality services like transport, shopping, and cultural shows. "The areas will soon be announced," the officers added. The government which has 15 theme based circuits has planned to add Saraswati Circuit to the list in the next financial year. "We will launch few dedicated trains for pilgrimage," said Jaitley.

On Jaitley's announcement regarding operation and maintenance of airports in select Tier II cities on PPP model, Chairperson of Airports Authority of India Guruprasad Mohapatra said, "We have developed a model where services including maintenance of restrooms, check in, food courts etc will be monitored by the private concessionaires."