JALMAHOTSAV: The making of an event
A month-long fest of Jalmahotsav, hosted by the MPTDC ended with memories to cherish for enthused travellers. Prakash Kundalia, Director, AUM event, enumerates on the logistics of organising such a large-scale event
The calm waters of Indira Sagar Dam contrast the buzzing festival which has sprung up on its banks in Hanuwantiya, spread approximately 950 sq. kms. Called as Jal Mahotsav or water festival, organised by the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Department Corporation (MPTDC), the festival was held from December 15, 2016 until January 15, 2017. While the state has a huge potential to boom the tourism sector, the fest has proven to be an ideal getaway for enthused travellers, business mixed with leisure, meetings being held on a houseboat,
adventure water, air, land activities, exploring the small islands within the dam and much more. We get you excerpt of an interview with the event organisation that made it a runaway success.
Can you elaborate on the logistics for organising such a high scale event?
Logistics for Jal Mahotsav, a large-scale event organised by MP tourism and managed by Aum Events and Promotions India, was a vast segment itself. For the production, 250 truck rounds were used to transfer goods and commodities to the venue from across India. The planning of which was initiated 60 days before the event and executed seven days prior. Numerous compact MPV, vans, family cars, mini and luxury buses were booked for guest pick-up and drop. We even arranged pick-up and drop from around 700 km like Surat, Nagpur. The guests were welcomed with refreshment hampers while on the way. A dedicated team for the guest logistics was appointed. For guests who had their own vehicle, proper parking were provided with trained security guards. For visiting the islands, few speed boats were allocated. A team was there
to ensure safety of the guests. Within the venue, there were bullock-cart, golf-cart, bicycles to ferry guests. It takes a lot of efforts to manage the logistics for a venue and we had given our best.
MP now wants to showcase itself as a promoting state for water and adventure tourism
A new concept like water tourism is popular among coastal states like Kerala, Goa. How do you vision it to prosper here? What steps are being undertaken to conceptualise it?
India is blessed with all kinds of tourist attractions; coastal area is one of them like Kerala, Goa. They have many water sports, a life by sea, a sandy atmosphere have its own a charm. But, for a water festival of Madhya Pradesh Tourism named Jal Mahotsav, you can't compare it with coastal areas.
As the best thing about it is that it is man-made, yet seems like a miracle of nature. Jal Mahotsav has different kinds of adventure activities be it air, water sports or land adventures. It is equipped with luxury of Swiss tents. It is a water body of about 900 sq, km with 91 hopping islands, dense forest and inherits the tag of being the ideal for camp-fire, trekking and bird watching. We are also coming up with adding more attractions at the venue of festival.
Kindly explain on the latest projects and the investments on the tourism sector of the state? Madhya Pradesh is the state in the country where the tourism sector receives more priority from the government. The state government has envisioned opening new dimensions in the sector to attract investment and increase tourist inflow to earn revenue and generate employment. After marketing itself as a tiger state, Madhya Pradesh now wants to showcase itself as a promoting state for water and adventure tourism.
The rich water bodies provide it a potential for exploring possibilities in water sport which, if tapped would create immense scope for adventure tourists. Jal Mahotsav was planned to showcase the potential and possibilities which Madhya Pradesh holds for investors, travel planners and adventure tourists on the bank of IndiraSagar Dam in Khandwa District.
Another reason to organise Jal Mahotsav at Hanuwantiya is to offer employment opportunities to the local people and promoting local art. This will lead to better economy for the state. Tourists from all over the country, and across the world are visiting this festival. This will definitely be a milestone for the growth of the state.
In terms of infrastructure, where does MP tourism stand? How does it plan to fill the gaps and elevate it optimally? Kindly elaborate on them.
The creative promotional campaigns have resulted in very wide visibility of the state, both nationally and internationally. With emphasis on better infrastructure especially in the field of power and roads, destinations in MP have become more accessible and tourist friendly.
The state is aware of the employment generating potential of the tourism sector and pays special attention to training programmes further aggressive and innovative branding campaigns make Madhya Pradesh the desire of every travel lover across the globe.