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New Delhi : Environment, Forest & Climate Change and Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar and Petroleum & Natural Gas and Steel Dharmendra Pradhan Minister inaugurated the nationwide “Paryatan Parv 2019″ in the presence of the Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel in New Delhi on October 2, 2019. The Festival was inaugurated with fanfare amidst the beating of drums and cultural performances. Yogendra Tripathi, Secretary, Tourism, and Amit Khare, Secretary, I&B, and senior officers were also present on the occasion.
Organised by the Ministry of Tourism, Paryatan Parv 2019 will be held from October 2 to 13, 2019, across the country. The Delhi leg of the Parv is being held from October 2 to 6, 2019, at Rajpath lawns between Rafi Marg and Janpath.
Speaking on the occasion, Javadekar said that India is full of diversity and it makes India different and unique in comparison to rest of the world. He also said that under the visionary leadership of PM Narendra Modi, growth of tourism sector has been phenomenal over the last five years. He said that as per appeal of our Prime Minister everybody should visit 15 places of India by 2022.
Addressing the gathering, Pradhan said that our country has been bestowed with thousands of tourist attractions in almost every district. He called upon the countrymen and the foreign tourists to move into the countryside and visit the less explored places which have historical, cultural or religious significance, or just to visit the places with scenic beauty. He complimented the ministry of tourism for organising such events and undertaking the promotional efforts which has led to 1.5 times jump in the number of foreign visitors in last 5 years. He said tourism in the country provides substantial employment opportunities and contributes much to the national GDP.
Patel expressed his happiness that the inauguration of the Paryatan Parv is coinciding with the 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. To understand soul of the country, the Father of the Nation toured across the country and we can come close to our culture and people through, he said. The Prime Minister is Brand Ambassador of the county and due to his efforts tourism has shown tremedous growth over the five years. In fact , the world tourism ranking of the country has jumped from 65 in 2013 to 34 in 2019, he explained, according to a PIB release.
Patel further stated that in the line of Mahatma Gandhi’s thoughts regarding sustainable and clean tourism, efforts are being made to phase out single use plastics in various organisations of ASI and Ministry of Tourism. Single Use Plastics will no longer be permitted within ASI protected Monuments and within 100 m of these Monuments, the Toursim Minister announced.
The paryatan Parv has 31 stalls of Central government ministries as well as from States and UTs while 59 food stalls representing cuisines from all over the country have also been setup. The idea of Paryatan Parv is to propagate the message of ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ with the objective to encourage Indians to visit various tourist destinations of the country and also to spread the message of ‘Tourism for All’.
A multi media exhibition organised by Bureau of Outreach Communication of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was also inaugurated by Javadekar, Pradhan and Patel. Paryatan Parv 2019 is dedicated to 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.