Let us turn to tourism. How have domestic tourism and overseas tourism evolved?

The number of foreign tourist arrivals has naturally grown. Post-COVID, India was among the major travel destination countries that recovered with great speed and reached earlier levels, both in numbers and revenue.

But unprecedented growth has been registered in domestic tourism. Pilgrimage has been part of the DNA of Indians for thousands of years. What has changed is that our economy has evolved and disposable incomes have risen.

The initiatives the Government has taken to eliminate poverty have resulted in 25 crore people coming out of the poverty line. They now have some disposable income, perhaps only a little, but enough to fulfil desires that may have been suppressed for generations: taking their elderly parents, their families or their spouses for darshan wherever their faith takes them, whether Kashi Vishwanath, Vaishno Devi, Guruvayur, Jagannath Puri or elsewhere.

Transportation has also changed dramatically. More than 150,000 kilometres of highways have been constructed. The railways have been modernised, travel times have been reduced and the number of airports has more than doubled.

The Government has also invested thousands of crores in infrastructure, including corridors and circuits around religious places and major tourist destinations. Because of this influx, if we count journeys for recreation, luxury, business, medical purposes, social occasions and weddings, as well as pilgrimage, the number of journeys in the last year has exceeded 400 crore.

It is a huge potential and a big momentum. Rather, I should say a typhoon has come into the tourism industry in the country. The Prime Minister has given us the task of increasing foreign tourist arrivals and the contribution of the travel and tourism sector to India’s GDP. When that is achieved, tourism is going to become the second-largest employment generator after agriculture in the country.

The homestay culture has also grown rapidly, with platforms such as Airbnb making these experiences accessible to ordinary travellers. How do you see this evolution?

The perspective towards life has changed considerably in recent years, particularly between generations. The generation gap has always existed, but the pace of change today is extremely high. COVID has also added to this.

After COVID, there has been a paradigm shift in the way people look at life. People have started giving preference to experience. They are not travelling merely to see a monument. They want to immerse themselves in an experience. They want genuine and authentic experiences.

If somebody wants to understand tribal life, for example, they cannot get that experience by staying in a five-star hotel and simply visiting a tribal location. They stay there, live there, eat their food, dance and sing with them and participate in their activities.

Then they have a genuine experience. That is why the importance and demand for homestays and Airbnb is continuously increasing. The Government of India is extending support through schemes such as MUDRA and PMEGP, as well as special schemes for tribal areas aligned with the Prime Minister’s vision.

India has extraordinary sites such as Konark, Ajanta and Ellora, Khajuraho and Sarnath. Why should the popular “Seven Wonders” narrative determine how we regard our heritage?

The Seven Wonders were essentially a narrative. It was something built by people in Europe with a Western mindset. Some claim that the Taj Mahal is part of it, while others say it is not. There is controversy, and it is not something that can be regarded as an authentic determination of the world’s wonders.

What I believe are the wonders are those recognised by UNESCO as World Heritage sites. India started late because this was not a focus area for previous governments. Now it has come into focus.

India has 45 World Heritage monuments and ranks sixth in the world, and that number is continuously growing. We are also getting intangible practices recognised. Mehndi, for example, is a shared legacy across several countries. Pattachitra is practised in several countries. Chhath Puja is practised wherever Girmitiyas have gone, and we have proposed it for inscription as well.