The tourism ministry is considering recruiting brand ambassadors directly for its Incredible India campaign replacing the current practice of hiring them through a private agency amid indication that Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan and actress Priyanka Chopra are the top contenders to be the face of the flagship programme.

The ministry's contract with a creative agency for the campaign featuring Aamir Khan has already come to an end following which it was looking for new faces for the flagship programme to promote tourism.

Khan, who was associated with the campaign for over five years, had come under attack from ruling BJP for his comments on perceived intolerance in the country.

Incredible India is a campaign based on the concept of Atithi Devo Bhava, a Sanskrit verse which means the guest is equivalent to god.

Bachchan had been promoting Gujarat tourism for past few years. "Earlier, the ministry used to hire an agency which in turn would sign the contract with the ambassador but this time Tourism Ministry is considering to directly ink an agreement with the brand ambassador for the campaign," a source said. The agreement would be for three years against the earlier practice of appointing them on campaign basis, the source said.