New Delhi, Aug 01: Tourism minister TN Haokip has said that tourists nowadays prefer to spend their days at eco-friendly tourist destinations.

Manipur is one such place in India where both eco-tourism and rural tourism can be developed.

For boosting tourism industry in Manipur, the State Tourism Department has mapped out a comprehensive project for 11th Plan, asserted the Minister while talking to a senior correspondent of The Economic Times here.

The Minister said the State Government was pursuing with the Centre to lift all restrictions in the state and also to convert Tulihal airport into an international airport so that foreign tourists can have easy access to Manipur.

He said though the law and order in Jammu and Kashmir was not good, the Centre had not imposed any restrictions on entry of foreign tourists into the territory and questioned why the same yardstick should not be applied in the case of Manipur.

"In the name of law and order, certain parts of the country like ours suffer," he added.

When asked about the tourism infrastructure development, the Minister replied, "We are inviting investors for construction of hotels and tourist homes in Manipur.

We will encourage constructing 3star hotels in Manipur.

Besides the facility of 5-year tax holiday, the Centre is extending a maximum of Rs 75 lakh subsidy to the construction of 3-star hotel." When asked about the prospects of foreign tourists, the Minister expressed that Manipur is the place where the tricolor of INA flag was hoisted for the first time on Indian soil.

It was the battlefield of the World War II where many Japanese died.

It has British War Cemetery for the Britishers who died in the World War II.

Hence, Japanese, Britishers and those involved in INA movement have emotional attachment to Manipur.

In the 1990s many war veterans from Japan came to Manipur and offered obituary to their forefathers.

More than 70,000 Japanese were keen to visit Manipur but a lucky few were able to reach Manipur.

Stating "Germany had a wall but now it has fallen" Haokip asked why there is a wall in the North East.

When asked about the effect of insurgents on tourists in Manipur, he said they never touch tourists.

They welcome tourists.

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