West Bengal government woos tourists, investments from Gujarat

WB govt has identified three or four areas including tea-tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, which can not only attract tourists, but also investments in PPP mode

Looking to attract investments in the tourism sector as well as the Gujarati traveller, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation is in town with a roads-show to showcase the tourism potential of the eastern state.

West Bengal government has identified three or four areas including tea-tourism, eco-tourism, cultural tourism, which can not only attract tourists, but also investments in the public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

"We have identified areas like Gajaldoba near Siliguri for eco-tourism, Jharkhali in Sunderbans, Sabujdeep project near Hooghly, Kunjanagar in Jalpaiguri district where we are trying to attract investments in the PPP mode. Of these, Gajaldoba alone has an investment opportunity of around Rs 2,500 crore," said S Basu Ray, joint secretary of West Bengal tourism department.

The overall investment opportunity is around Rs 5,000 crore.

He added that his department officials would be meeting potential investors during their visit.

"The Patel community is one of the leading owners and operators of motels and hotels across the globe. We would try to explain the investment opportunities in tourism sector in West Bengal," said a senior official of the department.

West Bengal, however, does not rank amongst the most popular destinations for Gujarati tourists as of now, said tour operators in the state. Shreeram Patel, chairman, Gujarat chapter of the Travel Agents Association of India told Business Standard, "West Bengal does not even rank amongst the top 5 destinations where Gujarati tourists go, primarily because of the long distance. However, the hill circuit there is emerging as a popular spot in recent years."