Tourism in India generated USD 234 bn revenue in 2018: Minister K J Alphons
Ranked third in world tourism sector
Guwahati, Feb 3: Union Minister K J Alphons Sunday said the country's tourism sector fetched USD 234 billion revenue last year, registering a growth of over 19 per cent.
Delivering the inaugural speech at the 2nd ASEAN-India Youth Summit here, he said the country was ranked third in the tourism sector, according to the 2018 report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
"Last year, India generated USD 234 billion revenue from the tourism sector. While the global revenue growth was five per cent, it grew by 19.4 per cent in India," the Union tourism minister said.
This revenue was contributed by 87 per cent domestic and 13 per cent foreign tourists, Alphons said.
"From the foreign tourists we earned USD 27 billion, which grew by 14 per cent compared to global growth of seven per cent," he said, adding that around 82 million people are employed in the tourism sector.
About spiritual tourism, Alphons said 60-70 per cent of the total domestic tourists fall under this category.
"The Indian philosophy is yoga. We see all as one. Yoga is the way of life and it says the entire universe is part of me. If I want to be happy, others have to be happy -- this is the philosophy behind yoga.
"This is Indian philosophy. This is the common philosophy of ASEAN. Let us forget physical connectivity, this is the spiritual connectivity between us," the minister said.
Alphons also advocated for a peaceful and sustainable world, free of pollution and damage to the environment.
"Let us talk how we can bring sanity to world politics. Today, the world is being crushed under xenophobic politics. We need to think beyond our own countries," he appealed to the international gathering from the ASEAN nations.
On the occasion, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said more collaboration on various fields between the countries are needed to strengthen the relationship.
"We have requested the MEA to negotiate with the ASEAN countries to have their consulates in Guwahati, which will soon become the gateway of India in the northeast. Already, Bangladesh and Bhutan have opened their consulates here," he said.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
