Kiran: Hyderabad best for global conferences

• Admits infra needs improvement A
• Chiranjeevi says future of tourism growth lies in Asia

Hyderabad: The 25th Joint Commission meeting of United Nations World Tour ism Organisation (UNW TO) for East Asia and Pacific began here on Friday.

The three day conference will take up global review on Sustainable Tourism Development, tourism sustainability criteria for India, Industry and media perspective on Friday. On Saturday, the conference will deliberate on progress report on implementation of programme work for 2012-13 and tourism performance in the region. The delegates will also visit Nagarjuna Sagar, Shilparamam, Ramoji Film City and Hyderabad Golf Club.

Inaugurating the meeting, Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said 'our relations with UNWTO go back to a decade where Andhra Pradesh hosted a similar meeting in year 2004. UNWTO has identified tourism as a sector with great potential to reduce poverty and increase employment, particularly in the rural areas'.

Tourism is also identified as a sector that creates more number of jobs per million US Dollars of investment (78 jobs per million, as against 45 in Agriculture and 18 in industry, he said. Kiran said Andhra Pradesh, with all its attractions spread all over the state, continues to be the leading State in terms of domestic tourist arrivals. He said 153 million (18%) domestic tourists and 0.26 million (4.12%) international tourists visited Andhra Pradesh in year 2011. Hyderabad, Kiran said has emerged as the best city to hold international conferences. The Chief Minister however agreed that there was need for further development of infrastructure facilities in the city in tune with the global standards.

The Union Minister of State for Tourism, K Chiranjeevi said the charm of Hyderabad lied in its cosmopolitan culture, unique cuisine and heritage. He said, the future of tourism growth lies here. According to UNWTO, in the coming years, the Asia and Pacific regions are going to witness higher growth than other parts of the world.

He said, only by making tourism sustainable, we could derive its benefits, like economic growth, employment generation and social integration. Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of UNWTO, said Brazil, Russia, India and China would be the new destinations for tourists. He said international tourist arrivals had touched 1.035 billion with four per cent growth over 2011. Tourism sector may witness a growth of 3.5 to 4 per cent this year, Rifai added.