Deputy Chief Minister Mohd. Mahmood Ali said the government was planning to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting Telangana from the current 2.5 lakh a year to 10 lakh by 2020.
Mr. Ali, who inaugurated the four-day 78th Skal World Congress at HICC here on Friday, said Telangana was committed to the development and promotion of tourism.
The Skal World Congress is a four day, annual conference and over 600 delegates from 85 countries are taking part in the event organised by the world’s largest travel organisation – Travel and Tourism Professionals – founded in 1934.
Speaking on the occasion, David Fisher, Skal International president, said today’s traveller was looking at a fuller experience of a place and wants to explore the local life and cuisine and have the feel of the place.
B. Venkatesham, Secretary (Tourism), said Telangana has great potential for tourism, adding that 30% of pharmaceutical drugs used in the world were produced in Hyderabad while the world famous Kohinoor diamond was mined here too.
Skal chapter of 12 Indian cities twinned with Skal chapters of 12 U.S. cities on the occasion that was graced by U.S. Consul-General in Hyderabad, Katherine B. Hadda. She said Indians visiting the United States annually has doubled since 2009. “In 2015, for the first time in history, Mission India processed more than one million non-immigrant visa applications in a single year and we have done so again in 2016,” she said.
She also reminded that 2017 marks the U.S.-India Travel and Tourism Partnership Year. She said the two-way trade in goods and services between the United States and India reached more than $115 billion last year.
