New Delhi, Nov 18 : Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni today said that all efforts are on to have inclusive growth in the tourism sector in the country.

Addressing the meeting of Consultative Committee attached to Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Culture here, Soni said schemes are being formulated and implemented in a manner that urban rural divide is bridged and every social and ethnic group is included in the promotion of tourism in the country.

She said Capacity Building Programme is the priority area for the Government with special focus on employment generation and trained manpower.

"Tourism is an important sector for employment generation and according to estimates available with the Government it provides 8.9 per cent employment in India. In 2007 tourism contributed 6.23 per cent to GDP and tourism generated 53.7 million employment," she added.

Soni said Tourism Ministry has chalked out an elaborate plan for expansion and strengthening of capacity building infrastructure and its aim to establish 49 Indian Hotel Management Institutes (IHMs) and 31 Food Crafts Institutes (FCIs) by the end of Eleventh Plan. She said it has also introduced schemes of capacity building through rural tourism, Earn While You Learn, Certified Hospitality Trainer and Atithi Devo Bhavah schemes of the Ministry.

" Most of the schemes for capacity building are devised keeping in view the increased tourist inflow in the country on a long-term basis," she added. (ANI)