CM asks all to gear up for huge tourist footfall
DEHRADUN: Chief minister Puskar Singh Dhami on Saturday called upon all the stakeholders to be prepared as he expects a boom in tourism sector during the upcoming Char Dham yatra season.
Dhami made the appeal while addressing the inaugural ceremony of day-long Uttarakhand Tourism and Hospitality Conference 2022 organised by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board in Dehradun on Saturday.
The conference was witness to launch of a short commercial film “Apnatey Hai Dil Khol Ke”. The films produced by UTDB were based on themes of overall promoting tourism, wellness tourism and homestays in the state.
Dhami said, “Char Dham Yatra is back on track on track after two years of pandemic challenge and pilgrims and tourists in big numbers are expected to arrive in the state as last two years Yatra was hindered due to subsequent restrictions but this year, we are expecting a record footfall”.
Referring to better connectivity, the Chief Minister said that the day was not far when travel time between Delhi and Dehradun will be reduced to just two hours which will lead to more tourism inflow in coming years.
Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj stressed promoting caravan and camping tourism. “Our state has a lot of opportunities on that count and for that, we need to develop camp sites that can cater to such vehicles and are equipped with toilets and cafeteria on it”, he said.
He called upon the stakeholders to become service providers emphasizing that tourists are the bread and butter of the state.
Satpal Maharaj also said that the government was promoting winter tourism besides Char Dham Yatra. Char Dham is in the summer season, we need to promote skiing and other linked activities to promote winter tourism too, he added.
Vinod Chamoli, MLA Dharampur, laid importance on targeting more tourists other than Char Dham pilgrims. “It is generally seen that tourists coming for adventure and wellness tend to spend more money than pilgrims,” Chamoli observed.
Earlier, tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said that the state in the last two decades has made a place for itself in tourism and is today seen as an all-weather destination.
Referring to the launch of the commercial film, Jawalkar said the films were meant to promote tourism in Uttarakhand.
The hoteliers indicated several problems being faced by them in terms of policy issues. Sandeep Sahni the president of Uttarakhand hotel and restaurant association said, “the hotel industry was a major sufferer during the Covid pandemic period, and the government should evolve ease of doing policy where the archaic laws are removed and replaced with investor-friendly laws that help in creating better infrastructure”.
He also said that if the hoteliers are given incentives to equip their hotels with rooftop solar panels it will assist in reducing the power shortage in the state, he added.
The stakeholders said that new tourist destinations should also be developed so that the tourists have new choices to visit the state. Tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar said the ease of doing business has improved in the state but more needs to be done. He also stressed that the focus now should be on skill development and coming up with new tourist destinations.
Additional Director Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board Vivek Singh Chauhan accorded the vote of thanks. Col Ashwin Pundhir Additional Chief Executive Officer (Adventure) was prominent present on the occasion. The inaugural session was followed by the plenary sessions that include themes Rebooting tourism after covid 19 and UTDB investment incentive policy. Tourism officials, other stakeholders like hoteliers, and those in adventure and wellness tourism were prominent participants in the conference.