India is a haven for tourists. The snow-covered peaks of the Himalayas, the valleys of Kashmir, the Taj Mahal, Ajanta and Elora caves, sculpture of Khajuraho, the temples of Konark, Madurai and Jagannath Puri, the Buddhist stupas at Sanchi are places of tourist attraction. The tourists who love art will not go back disappointed.

For a long time, tourism has been neglected in India. It is only recently that the government realized the importance of tourism in the development of India’s economy. India is a developing country. We import raw materials and capital goods from abroad. It needs a lot of foreign exchange. Tourism can play a significant role in meet­ing this need. Enlarged tourist traffic to India will dispel most of the prejudices that the foreigners have about our country.The Government of India has formed Indian Tourism Development Corporation to promote international tourism. It has three divisions as the hotel division; the production, publicity and entertainment division and the transport division.

It is not only the foreign tourists who need facilities but the inter­nal tourists, too. It cannot be forgotten that internal tourists pro­mote goodwill among people of different regions. It helps to eradi­cate regionalism. It will go a long way in improving the infrastructure of our tourist industry. It will have a favourable impact on the for­eign tourists as well.

West Bengal also had played an important part in the tourism industry. From Mountain to Beach, West Bengal had been attracting tourists from different parts of India and also from different parts of the world.