With over five million tourists visiting Gujarat in the last two years, Gujarat tourism has planned a number of initiatives to develop its tourism infrastructure across the state. Of these, one of the main focuses this year will be the development and promotion of medical tourism. According to Sanjay Kaul, Managing Director, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited, the tourism board and the State Government are keen on focussing on Medical Tourism as a major sector. “Gujarat has got some of the best medical facilities and we have already started work on improving the medical infrastructure,” he revealed.
He further added that that the corporation is focusing on developing infrastructure and systematic planning for the promotion of different popular destinations of Gujarat under the banner of Khushboo Gujarat Ki. “We have laid a dedicated budget of Rs 730 crores only for developing the infrastructure around 22 districts across Gujarat as we want to make our tourists comfortable so that they keep coming to our state. We also plan on launching an investor friendly tourism policy this year.”
Gujarat has done an in-depth study on the infrastructure gap existing in various tourist locations across the State. The micro-level study was carried out by Gujarat Tourism Opportunity Ltd., a joint venture company formed between Gujarat Tourism and ILFS (Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited). This initiative was part of the state’s three-pronged strategy to develop tourism sector-infrastructure, promotion and policy.
Commenting on their new tourism strategy to attract international tourists, Kaul said, “We will continue to attract tourists through several fairs and events including Saputara Monsoon festival, Rann Utsav, Kite Festivals and many more.” Moreover, Gujarat will continue to organise roadshows in the metro as well as tier II cities.
