Govt to promote rural and archaeological tourism during G20: Union Tourism Secretary

New Delhi [India], February 3 (ANI): The Ministry of Tourism will organize a series of side events during the G20 Meetings to promote rural and archaeological tourism. This will include promotion of UNESCO Heritage Sites, Arvind Singh, Secretary of Tourism, Government of India, told ANI on Friday. 

Singh said that there will be four working group meetings of G20 in India, and the Ministry of Tourism has set five priorities for the four working group meetings. India's five priorities will be beneficial for India as well as the world.

Arvind Singh said that issues like digitalisation in tourism sector, promotion of MSME, skilling people, and promoting destination management organization will be included in these meetings as priority.

"This will benefit tourism around the world including India. Along with this, the Ministry of Tourism is also going to organize side events in which rural tourism will be promoted," said Singh. 

Talking about the immense possibilities in rural tourism, Arvind Singh said, “Excellent work has also been done in rural tourism in various states of India and they aim to highlight the same in front of the world. Apart from rural tourism, the focus will also be on archaeological tourism and involved UNESCO Heritage Sites.” 

Arvind Singh further said that the focus on skill development is being done keeping in mind employment of the youth. 

“Skill development is not just about creating jobs, but we want to train the youths in such a way that they can run their own business. The way start-ups are coming in urban areas in the field of tourism, youth in rural India will also be able to launch their own start-ups in the same way, after being skilled,” he added. 

“The G20 meeting will be held at 55 places in India and we are going to bring cultural heritage located around these places to the fore. With the help of the tourism department in respective states, we will try to highlight India's culture and heritage to the representatives of G20 countries,” Arvind Singh further said.

India's First Employment Working Group meeting began in Jodhpur on Friday, where the panel held discussions with focus on developing a collaborative road map for global skills under India's G20 presidency, the Ministry of Labour & Employment said in a statement.

The First Employment Working Group meeting, a three-day event, on the inaugural day saw delegates from the G20 countries, guest countries, international and national organisations, and other prominent international and national experts, attending the discussion. At the event, local delicacies of Rajasthan were served.

The panel discussion focused on global trends in skill shortages, surpluses, and mismatches and deliberated on the means to plug these skills deficits and develop a collaborative road map for international skills and qualifications harmonisation. (ANI)