A senior official in the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) informed that work is already underway to come up with a totally new look website and it should go live in around a month's time. TCGL has planned to include features like the content available in foreign languages, and also Gujarati. "We are in a transition phase as regards the tourism website. We already have included features like translations in foreign languages like French, German, Spanish, and more is underway." He added that the new website would be more easy to navigate as well as be more feature rich.
It is learnt that translation options in languages like Chinese, Portuguese and Japanese would also be available on the website. For that matter, foreign tourist arrivals in Gujarat during the first nine months of the 2013-14 rose 22.17 per cent as against an overall tourist arrival growth of 13.4 per cent during the same period.
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As per data from Gujarat Industrial and Technical Consultancy Organisation Limited (GITCO), which manages the Tourist Flow Information System (TFIS) for TCGL, around 143,098 foreigners visited Gujarat during the fist nine months last fiscal as against 117,126 in the corresponding nine months. The data further shows that foreign tourists were followed by non-resident Indians (NRIs), tourists from within Gujarat and then tourists from other Indian states.
The state received 21.17 million tourists between April-December 2013 versus 18.68 million tourists during the same period previous year, thus registering a growth of 13.4 per cent.
Subhash Goyal, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said, "Gujarat has managed to record a good growth over a broader base. In comparison with the overall tourist growth 3-4 per cent in the country, 13 per cent growth is good."
In order to ensure tourist inflow to the state, TCGL is also reaching out to other states in the country. The popular tourism promotion campaign Khushboo Gujarat Ki has put Gujarat on the tourism map of the country, with tourists from far away states like West Bengal also showing interest in coming to Gujarat, feel tour operators.
"We have approached a handful of Indian states to sign MoUs with us with regards to tourist inflow, while certain mutually beneficial arrangements can be worked out like low-cost travel etc. Of these, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are likely to come on board after the Lok Sabha elections are over," said the official. Gujarat, meanwhile, has already forged agreements with states like Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi and Madhya Pradesh.