The survey will begin on July 1. It will cover 6.5 lakh households in the country

Bangalore: The first comprehensive survey on domestic tourism in the country will be carried out by the National Sample Survey Organisation this year.

The tourism sector in India, which accounts for six per cent of the national GDP and 8 per cent of total employment, is dominated by domestic tourism and needs to be better understood, said S.D. Tendulkar, Chairman of the National Statistical Commission and Steering Committee on National Sample Surveys (NSS).

Speaking at the inauguration of the All India Training of Trainers for the 65th round of NSS here on Wednesday, Prof. Tendulkar said that the survey will provide a database for policy decisions to promote tourism in the country.

Pronab Sen, Chief Statistician of India and Secretary in the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said that international tourism represents only a fraction of tourism in the country. “The survey will not only measure the nature and magnitude of domestic tourism, but will also show where the tourist originates and where he is going,” he said.