New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS) Former G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant on Saturday urged the need to strengthen the country’s tourism sector to earn big on exports, as well as tackle tariffs, imposed by US President Donald Trump.

His remarks came amid concerns over the Trump’s escalation of tariff to 50 per cent on Indian goods.

“India’s biggest export earnings can come from Tourism which is totally free from Trumps tariffs,” Kant said, in a post on social media platform X.

“We must attract global tourists. They will more than make up for 50 per cent tariff levied by Trump on goods,” he added.

Despite having “natural beauty, history, and heritage, culture, and diversity”, India gets a “mere 1.5 per cent share in international tourist arrivals”.

He also lamented the lack of “concerted branding or marketing campaign for Indian tourism in the past decade”.

While he highlighted Incredible India’s immense potential to attract global tourists, the former Niti Aayog CEO also emphasised the need for marketing campaigns to attract global tourists.

“We need the biggest global branding and marketing campaign to unleash Incredible India’s immense potential. Otherwise, with the 1800 planes Indian airlines are buying, we will just be ferrying Indians flying abroad for holidays,” said Kant on X.

Kant played a pivotal role in shaping the “Incredible India” campaign, which focused on showcasing India’s diverse culture, heritage, and natural beauty to attract tourists and investors.

While the initial duty of 25 per cent came into effect from August 7, the additional levy will become effective after 21 days.

Higher tariffs will make Indian goods, such as shrimps, organic chemicals, carpets, apparel (both knitted and woven), among others costly in the US market.

Earlier, Kant called the hefty tariffs by Trump as “once in a generation opportunity”.

He stated that the US President has given India an opportunity to “take the next big leap” on reforms, and urged citizens to utilise the crisis fully.

“Trump has provided us a once in a generation opportunity to take the next big leap on reforms. Crisis must be fully utilised,” Kant posted on X.

–IANS

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