South Africa proposes BRICS panel on tourism

New Delhi, Sep 1 (PTI) Tourism Minister of South Africa DA Hanekom today proposed constitution of a permanent ‘BRICSWorking Stream on Tourism’ comprising government and privatestakeholders for mutual growth of the sector in the membercountries. The proposal was mooted at the two-day BRICS conventionon tourism that began today in the temple town of Khajuraho inMadhya Pradesh. The minister said India with a long tradition, history,ancient civilisation and culture has a large number of WorldHeritage Sites like Khajuraho that should be visited again andagain by tourists. "He (Hanekom) proposed constituting a permanent BRICSWorking Stream on Tourism comprising the stakeholders of thegovernment and private sector," an official release said. Delegation of China and Russia emphasised greatercooperation among the member countries for the mutual benefitfor the growth of tourism and looked at the convention as aplatform to interact with the travel industry partners. Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi stressed theimportance of the tourism sector as a major catalyst foreconomic growth and a source of job creation, thuscontributing to the economy. PTI MPSMN