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Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Wednesday said the tourism sector will be one of the key driving forces in India’s pursuit to become the world’s third-largest economy.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event, Shekhawat said the sector has a huge potential to generate employment across the country.

“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, we are making efforts to make the country the third-largest economy in the world. So far, we have succeeded in bringing it from 11th place to 5th spot,” he said.

“Tourism will be one of the major driving forces in taking the country from the 5th to the third place,” Shekhawat, who was here to review Jammu and Kashmir’s tourism sector, added.

The minister said an ever-increasing number of Indians are leaving their homes to travel around as they have become economically prosperous.

“A new chapter of development has been written under PM Modi and it has changed the way the world looks at India. The pace at which India has developed in the past few years has left the world awestruck which now wants to start afresh in knowing the country,” he said.

“The economic prosperity has led to people leaving their homes and travelling around. It has given a new boost to the tourism sector and in the coming days this sector will be a major economic and employment generator,” Shekhawat further added.

He also said the Centre will provide all possible assistance to states for developing new tourist destinations to mitigate congestion at the existing hotspots.

“All established destinations face congestion given a sudden spike in tourist arrivals. For decongestion, we have to develop new destinations and points of attraction,” Shekhawat said.

“As tourism is a state subject, we have asked all state governments to develop new tourist destinations. The Centre will provide all possible help in the holistic infrastructure development of these places. Whether it is connectivity for commutation or connectivity for communication, we will work on it,” he added.

Shekhawat also said the government wants to work with tourist guides to promote tourism in the country.