New Delhi, March 14 : Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday said the government is taking steps to revive tourism and that domestic tourism is being promoted. Replying to supplementary questions in the Lok Sabha, Reddy said tourism was most affected due to Covid-19 and that vaccination campaign played a major role in reopening tourism. He said the government was promoting different forms of tourism like heritage tourism, historical tourism, religious tourism, eco tourism, responsible tourism and medical tourism. Reddy said the government had decided to give Rs 5 lakh visas free of charge. In the upcoming coming summer season, “all rooms in tourist destinations have been booked”. “Domestic tourism is being encouraged. The Prime Minister has said that every family should travel to at least 15 tourist destinations,” he said. National Conference member Farooq Abdullah asked if the government would take steps to bring down the air fares. He asked if the government will reduce the charges on tourists and demanded that flights from Kashmir to Sharjah be started again. The Minister said flights to tourist destinations get subsidy under the Udan scheme. In his written reply, Reddy said the tourism sector showed a negative growth during the Covid pandemic. AO MR
