Cleanliness drives by govt will boost tourism: Piyush Goyal

Efforts made by the government towards cleanliness in the past four years would boost tourism in India, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

After inaugurating Indian Tourism Mart, a symposium of the travel and trade industry sector, Goyal flagged the areas of concern for tourists visiting the country such as electricity, cleanliness and pollution.

"No country can attract international tourists, until they feel the country is clean...The efforts we have undertaken in the last four years to bring about cleanliness is certainly going to be one of the defining features to promote tourism in the nation in a big way," he said.

He said cleanliness also makes tourists feel safer when they walk around streets without garbage and muck littering their paths.

He said that electricity will be available across the country, even in the remotest areas, as the country has "gone from an era of power shortages to an era of power surpluses. We can now provide power to even the most remotest areas, and tourists can be assured about this."