Mamata Banerjee seems to be leaving no stone unturned in trying to transform the state’s tourism sector into a valuable source of revenue for the government. In the Budget, announced last week, Finance Minister Amit Mitra has set aside Rs 295 crore for the tourism department a 25-fold increase since 2010. The allocation would be used to promote homestays, promotional films featuring Bengal brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan and a river-cruise along Sunderbans among others. Tourism Minister Goutam Deb has been tasked to ensure an increase in global tourism footfall in Bengal. We are implementing different ideas. For instance, in North Bengal, where a large number of Europeans visit, we are developing infrastructure. Take for instance, film tourism. This is a niche tourism sector. But it’s a prime focus of the government, he said. While projects such as the Kolkata eye’ is yet to become a reality, others like Gajoldoba a proposed eco-tourist resort around a natural lake in North Bengal and a river-cruise in Sunderbans have taken off. In June, the government in an attempt to boost home tourism’ had decided to promote organic farming in areas promoting homestays. With around 2,000 rooms on offer, homestays are the new craze for tourists visiting North Bengal. Home tourism in Darjeeling hills is also set to get another boost, said an official. Officials added that the promotional film for tourism would soon be made public. The film, which will be shown on television channels, will initially be of 90-second duration. Later, it would play for 30 seconds. The 90-second film will be telecast at Inox movie screens. But the entire film, which is of three minutes, will be uploaded on YouTube, said an official. The government is also hopeful that the river cruise to be jointly undertaken by the Bangladesh and Indian governments would be launched by the end of this year. The cruise is likely to be a 14-day affair that will traverse through the Sunderban mangrove forests.
2016 The Indian Express [P] Ltd.