Minister of State Tourism K J Alphons said that India is targeting to double its last year's record of 10 million Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTA) in the next 3 years, reported PTI.

Including Non-Resident Indians (NRIs), our the total arrivals have been 17 million. The earnings from these foreign arrivals have gone up by 20.2% in dollars terms.

The minister calls these numbers encouraging and will work towards doubling FTAs and foreign exchange earnings.

India stands 13th in the world and 7th in the Asia Pacific in terms of FTAs. The tourism industry has been contributing 6.88 % to the GDP and 12.6% to the employment sector.

The upcoming tourism policy will be out in two or three months. The minister is hoping for a bigger allocation in the upcoming union budget.

Also, a world-class international cruise port is being built in Mazagon Dock, Mumbai with an investment of Rs 5,000 crore funded by the government.