Assam to tee off with golf tourism
As the North East has found a special mention in the much-needed BJP manifesto with a larger charter and non- lapsable funds, the Assam Tourism Development Corporation ( ATDC) Limited is looking to promote its products, some of them very unique, to garner
ATDC has proposed an ` investment of 100 crore to develop tourism infrastructure and promote the state’s tourism potential this year.
On the sidelines of a North East cultural festival that saw its fair share of Bollywood glamour, Anurag Singh, the Managing Director of the Corporation, said, “We are
` looking to invest 100 crore this year to improve tourism in
` Assam. Of this, 10 crore will be for our upcoming media campaigns. Our main focus at the biggest river cruise in the country. “We are keen on investing in two more such vessels,” he said. Singh also informed that Assam has the third- highest number of golf courses in India, but tourists don’t know this. “We are therefore focussed on promoting Assam as a golf destination as well. With current domestic tourist arrivals at a little over 45 lakh and foreign tourists at 20,000, we want to double these numbers by 2016,” he said. Engagements with the travel agents are also on the agenda.
The North East cultural festival was aimed at showcas- ing the region to the Bollywood fraternity to make the destination more mainstream. The MV Mahabaahu luxury cruise that sails along the Brahmaputra from Guwahati to Nimatighat in Jorhat charges
` ` between 13,000 to 35,000 per night per person. Ten ghats and jetties are also being developed on the Brahmaputra. These include Goalpara, Jogighopa, Guwahati, and Sualkuchi.