New Delhi: Union Tourism Minister Alphons Kannanthanam on Thursday suggested foreigners to eat beef in their own country and then come here (India).

On being asked if cow vigilantism and restrictions on beef consumption in several states of India had affected India's hospitality sector, the 1979 Kerala cadre officer said that foreign tourists can eat beef in their country and come to India. Alphons Kannanthanam was addressing the 33rd annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators in Bhubaneswar.

Contrary to this, the newly sworn-in minister had earlier said that beef would continue to be consumed in Kerala. Talking to PTI, the bureaucrat-turned-politician had said that the BJP had never said that beef cannot be eaten. "As Goa chief minister, Manohar Parrikar has said that beef will be consumed in the state. Similarly, it will be consumed in Kerala," he had said. "The BJP does not mandate that beef cannot be eaten. We don't dictate food habits in any place. It is for the people to decide," the minister had asserted.

However, when the minister was asked about his earlier statements he dodged the question by saying it's a cock-and-bull story. I am not the food minister to decide on it.

Alphons Kannanthanam also said that to promote tourism across India, his ministry had sought innovative ideas. "We are getting people to come and give us ideas and within a month we will have a plan for action soon," leading daily Times of India quoted the minister as saying.