New Delhi, Sep 18 (IANS): President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday urged the tourism industry to plan its investments for sustained growth without compromising the country's natural and cultural heritage.

He presented the National Tourism Awards here and said: "Broader social contacts between tourists and receiving communities go a long way in enhancing mutual understanding, tolerance, and awareness between people."

"With the growth of the Indian economy and the increase in disposable income of the people, we may expect tourist inflows to remain on a positive trajectory in the years to come. We must pay focussed attention to the building of a high quality tourism infrastructure in the country," he said.

The launch of two initiatives - Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) - aiming at integrated development of circuits and pilgrim centres would go a long way in achieving this objective, Mukherjee said.