Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Monday said tourism is in the “DNA of India”, a practice that has been existing in the country since thousands of years.

Mr Shekhawat made the remarks at an event here organised by the Odisha tourism department in collaboration with FICCI.

“Tourism is in the DNA of India. The Kedarnath Temple was built around 2,500 years ago when the USA was not there and Europe was entering the Bronze era,” he said.

Whenever Indians got some disposable income, they chose to travel to temples or tourist destination, the Union Tourism Minister said.

“The tendency has increased after the Covid pandemic,” he said.

Lauding the central government, Mr Shekhawat also said the perspective of the world has changed about India due to the speed and scale of its development during the last 10 years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He said the first requirement to grow tourism in a country is the establishment of a strong commutation network.

“And, India has witnessed a revolution in the field of commutation during these 10 years,” Mr Shekhawat asserted. 

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