‘Image must change’: Tharoor says India seen unsafe for women; flags tourism inequality

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday called on India to urgently address the perception that the country is unsafe for women if it wants to strengthen its tourism sector. Tharoor warned that India’s global image was holding back growth in a sector he described as vital for jobs and revenue.“We have a lot of things to do. Tourism is very important. This gives employment to the people. It will increase revenue for the government. We need to improve our infrastructure. Our nation has an image that India is not safe for women. We need to change this image. We have to do something about it. More women police officers must be deployed in the tourist areas,” Tharoor said, as quoted by ANI. The Congress leader argued that boosting tourism could be one of the most effective ways to tackle unemployment. “Tourism is an extremely important issue and that is why I am here today. Because there is no doubt that it would address many of our problems, including unemployment. There is a report by the World Tourism Organisation that says that a 1000 dollars spent on tourism will employ 8 times as many people as a 1000 dollars spent on manufacturing,” he noted.Tharoor also criticised the lack of mid-range facilities available for visitors. “We either have high-end 5-star hotels or extremely poor quality; there is nothing in between. We need to construct a lot,” he said, speaking after the Skål India National Congress 2025 in MumbaiCalling the situation “shocking,” he pointed out that smaller destinations like Dubai and Singapore were attracting vastly more visitors than India. “We need to build a hundred more hotels, thousands of hotels, we need to improve our tourist facilities, we must attract more people. We have such a few beautiful country to offer the world. We must give tourism more of a priority,” he added.