Addressing a two-day round table conference of "World Travel and Tourism Council" (WTTC) here, Union Tourism Secretary Sree Bhadra Banerjee said the total earning in the tourism sector should touch 20 billion dollar by 2010.

He said the Tourism Ministry was trying to promote rural tourism as the sector could be the largest generator of jobs in the country.

"Domestic tourism forms the backbone of tourism industry and development of rural tourism is very important for positioning the rural tourism of the country as a unique experience," he said.

Banerjee said the the Centre has decided to create 15 million jobs by 2010 in the tourism sector.

The conference, attended by government officials, industry players, various service providers and eminent economists, harped on collective efforts from all concerned authorities to further exploit the huge potential in the sector.

They also emphasised the need to improve the infrastructure facilities such as rail, road and air connectivity between different states to attract more domestic tourists.

The stake holders were of the view that rural India has huge potential for tourism which could play an important role for all round development.