From addressing infrastructure woes to implementing aggressive marketing campaigns, West Bengal (WB) tourism is leaving no stone unturned to increase visitor footfall to the state. Shedding light on the State Tourism Board’s plans to develop and improve infrastructure in the state, Umapada Chatterjee, Director, West Bengal Tourism, shared that the West Bengal government has identified 10-12 sites for major tourism infrastructure development.
“With the active help of the private sector across the state, we are improvising on the existing facilities and services, as well as developing new ones. Instead of a viability gap funding (VGF), we will be investing in the creation of ‘critical infrastructure’ to attract private investors to invest in tourism facilities such as hotels, restaurants, and other facilities through the PPP model. We are hoping to attract an investment of Rs. 6,000 crores in tourism,” he informed.
Elaborating further, Chatterjee shared that the government has identified 207 acres of land in Gajoldoba in Jaipalguri, which is the gateway to the Doars, to be promoted as a major tourism destination. The government has also allocated Rs. 120 crores for various projects of destination development, comprising road widening, electricity, water connections, etc. The tourism department itself will be spending Rs. 7 crores to set up tourist cottages and Rs. 2 crores for building youth hostel accommodation. Similarly, in Jharkhali in South 24 Parganas district, the government has spent around Rs. 100 crores for the creation of critical infrastructure such as roads, electricity, drinking water, etc.
The government has also initiated a smoother inter-state road transit system by simplifying the permit system. “The WB Government is in constant talks with our counterparts in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Assam and Sikkim. With a better road network, one can experience the natural beauty of the state,” said Chatterjee. He further highlighted that the state government recently inked a MoU with Pawan Hans to connect Kolkata and the other WB districts by air. The company is also contemplating the operation of amphibious aircraft from Kolkata to places such as Digha, Haldia, Asansol, Behrampore, Tajpur and Sagar.
The Board is trending in international markets after participating in SATTE New Delhi in January 2014. West Bengal will now showcase their products at international tourism events/shows starting with ITB Berlin in March; followed by the Arabian Travel Market, Dubai in May; ITB Asia in August and the World Travel Market (WTM) London in November. “Through these international travel shows, we want to showcase the vibrancy of our state and the various tourism offerings to the entire world. So far at SATTE 2014, we have received overwhelming response from international buyers and I am confident that moving forward we will soon be one of India’s most visited states,” opined Chatterjee, further informing that they are also keen on increasing domestic footfall by participating in several events in various cities within the country.
“In April this year, we plan to participate in the India Travel Bazaar, which will be followed by organising ‘Destination East’ in association with CII or organising ‘West Bengal Travel Mart’ in the city with the help of travel operator associations,” he added.
