West Bengal to unveil revamped tourism policy by Jan-end

The West Bengal government is set to unleash a new revamped tourism policy by the end of this month, a top official has said.
The government also hopes to otilise the upcoming tourism fair - 'Destination East'-- to showcase its various tourism destinations to both domestic and international tour operators, before unveiling the new policy.
"The draft of the West Bengal governments upcoming tourism policy is ready, and if things go as planned, it will be unveiled by the end of this month," Atri Bhattacharya, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism in West Bengal said.
"We wish to incorporate in the new policy certain relevant points made at the Sectoral Conference on Tourism at the upcoming 'Bengal Global Business Summit (BGBS)' and also 'Destination East' to be jointly organized by the West Bengal Tourism Department and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) next week," Bhattacharya said.

He said that before unveiling the new policy, the government needs to understand from overseas and domestic stakeholders about their requirement and what more can be done in the policy to make Bengal a leading tourism and investment destination.
"These two forums will enable us to get industry feedback," he said.

Altogether, 102 overseas delegates from 30 countries, including 14 from the US, 12 from the UK and 12 from Russia, are expected to gather at the newly-built convention centre at New Town for the two-day tourism summit 'Destination East' beginning on January 18.
"We are aiming to showcase Gajoldoba in North Bengal as a potential tourism destination. There is also an event lined up at Gazoldoba," Bhattacharya said.

"The global tour operators, travel agents and travel writers would have an unprecedented access to innovative and diverse tourism products West Bengal has on offer through a number of familiarization (Fam) trips," Bhattacharya said.
Fam trips would take the global tour operators to Darjeeling, Kalimpong and the Dooras in north Bengal and the Sunderbans and the coastal areas in south Bengal including Digha and Mandarmani, besides Murshidabad and Santiniketan.
Manish Jain, Secretary, Department of Tourism in the state, said that through 'Destination East', the state government was keen on demonstrating its potential in the tourism sector.
"The idea is to make new innovative tourism circuits, connecting not only the eastern and north eastern states but also countries like Bhutan, Nepal etc," said Atul Bhalla, Co-Chairman, Tourism Subcommittee, CII Eastern Region.