Rann Utsav clocks a dream run of Rs 9.94 crores
After the success of the recently concluded month long Rann Utsav 2010, the state government has now set its sights on developing Saputara as an adventure destination in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Jay Narayan Vyas, minister for state for tourism, Gujarat government, said, "After Rann utsav, next on our agenda is to develop Saputara as a tourist destination. Saputara is conducive especially for the sport of paragliding and for activities like kite surfing, windsurfing, sailing and a team from MSU, Vadodara is studying the wind velocity conditions to develop the same."
Rann Utsav ended on Wednesday on a high note by garnering Rs 9.49 crores to the state's economy. The carnival that started on 19th December saw many new initiatives taken up this time like adventure sports, water sports and sand sculptures at Mandvi beach, food stalls at the venue, helicopter services for tourists to fly across the white Rann and a dedicated call centre for the event. Aggressive publicity of the carnival at various states through fairs, exhibitions, roads shows and websites and the much publicized ad campaigns with Amitabh Bachchan throughout the year has also lent a major thrust to the event.
Vyas further added, "Earlier Gujarat was being looked upon as an industrial hub but after the recently concluded Kutch Carnival and various other efforts taken by the Government to boost the tourism sector, one can safely say that now Gujarat will be looked upon as an emerging tourist destination as well." While a total of 26217 localites, 2722 NRI's and 300 foreigners visited the White Rann and tent city woven around it, the local economy notched up a an income generation of Rs 7.31 crore.
