The CII (Northern Region) would organise International Tourisim Fest in Chandigarh from 5 to 7 December. This was announced last Wednesday in the presence of senior officials of the tourism departments of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chandigarh at the CII headquarters in Chandigarh.
In order to provide a seamless travel to the tourists across the states in the north, a conclave of the Chief Ministers of the northern states would be organised to addess the issue of different rates of taxation.
“The tourists have to face a lot of difficulty owing to different tax levies while entering the different northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and UT of Chandigarh. The CII Tourism Fest would strive to resolve this bottleneck on priority basis by creating a Chief Minister’s Forum and getting all stakeholders together at one platform from 5-7 December in Chandigarh”, said Navjotpal Singh Randhawa, Director – Tourism, Government of Punjab.
“The CM’s Forum would integrate all related aspects and systems to boost the tourism in the region. An Integrated Tourism Circuit (ITC) is the only way to bring this region on global tourism map by attracting investments and contribute immensely to the GDP.
“Punjab which is participating in the CII tourism Fest as a ‘Principal Partner State’ has already notified tourism as an ‘industry’ to provide it with maximum incentives and the benefits”, he added.
“Only 20% of our tourist destinations have been affected by the calamity that struck Uttarakhand on 16-17 June. Rest 80% of the tourist places like Nainital, Ranikhet, Mussorie, various national parks and birding areas etc are completely safe for stay, adventure and travel and still there is a 95% decrease in tourist traffic in these places. Tourism sector contributes around 25% to our state’s GDP and the recent calamity has led to a loss of Rs 12,000 crore, ie 11% of the state’s GDP. Fear psychosis is the main reason for the loss arising due to lack of occupancy which we need to remove at the earliest. For this, we have planned Adventure Tourism session from 15 September in the state”, shared Sachin Kurve, additional secretary – tourism, Government of Uttarakhand.
We are offering 25% additional discount on advanced bookings for 1 year and to student tours in addition to 15% discount on transport in Garhwal.
“Considering the current dwindling of rupee, Indian tourism sector has the potential to grow tremendously because of cheaper costs. Hence we should make the most of it and present north as a major tourist destination. The CII Tourism Fest is one such step in this direction which would have participation of 5,000 members as part of trade delegations from states like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh. In addition countries like Indonesia, Thailand, Germany, Finland, Philippines, China, Malaysia will be visiting the event that will enhance one to one business meetings to boost tourism here”, said Randhir Brar, Executive Director, Le Passage to India.
“200 buyers from across the country will be hosted that will allow special inflow of special packages/itineraries by State Tourism Authorities & Foreign Tourism Boards. This will ultimately increase inflow of international and domestic tourists, giving push to the Hospitality & Transport industry etc”, said Man Mohan Singh, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council.
A K Malhotra, General Manger – Tourism, CITCO, Chandigarh said, “If integrated well, North can attract tourists for various forms of tourism like Eco tourism, Religious tourism, cultural tourism, Hill Tourism, Adventure, Architectural, Farm, Heritage, Weekend and Lifestyle tourism. Chandigarh Administration would use CII Tourism Fest as platform to showcase Chandigarh as a Modern Heritage Destination.
