By 1 2 1 News Reporter
Chandigarh 07th August:-- There is an urgent need to integrate the taxation regimes of various northern states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and J&K to make seamless travel across north a reality and in turn boost tourism in the northern region. Presently, the tourists have to face a lot of difficulty owing to different tax levies while entering these different northern states. 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", emphasised Navjotpal Singh Randhawa, Director – Tourism, Government of Punjab while addressing a Press Conference on CII Tourism Fest at CII NR Headquarters, here today. "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. There is a need to club together and showcase to the world, a complete package which includes unique strengths and attractions of all northern states like, Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and J&K to upscale tourist inflow in the region, both domestic and international and attract foreign tourists and", he further highlighted."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 per cent 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, i.e 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 Mr Sachin Kurve, Additional Secretary – Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand. "We would also aggressively showcase our strengths through CII tourism Fest and promote Uttarakhand as a tourist destination to domestic and overseas delegations of tour and travel operators, hospitality agencies and other stakeholders. The Fest will help us regain the tourist inflow back in the state," he added. 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 5000 members as part of Trade Delegations from States like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh in addition to 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 Mr 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 Mr Man Mohan Singh, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council. Mr A K Malhotra, General Manger – Tourism, CITCO, Chandigarh said that "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. "Being the host state -Chandigarh would be decked up for the fest. The UT, which is often known as a Transit point for neighboring states will now shine as an independent tourist hub," he added."The Chandigarh Administration is all set to support the fest and unleash the latent potential of tourism in Chandigarh. The Administration has decided to coincide the famous Chrysanthemum show with the fest. We will also organize many cultural shows across the City Beautiful and open access to the nearby forest reserves like Kansal and Nepli during the fest, for the domestic and global tourists to taste the flavors of forest tourism in the city." "We are soon launching a 'Sustainable Tourism Policy' to give incentives to the tourism sector and enhance its contribution further to state's GDP. Through CII Tourism Fest, we would try to create awareness of unexplored / interior regions of Himachal. It will also help in promoting concept of wellness tourism in the state, which is usually known for adventure and scenic beauty. The fest will also give the world the unique taste of Himachali Cuisine," said Mr Subhasish Panda, Director – Tourism, Government of Himachal Pradesh. He added, "Last year, Himachal received inflow of around 1.6 crore tourists and now with this Fest, we aim to increase the footfall to 2 crore soon. The fest will help the state government and agencies to gain the proactive support of the stakeholders. "Tourism sector contributes 5.6 % to India's GDP presently and has the potential to double in the next 10 years, considering our great heritage, beautiful locations and cheaper medical facilities. We just need to brand it well. What is needed is effective and aggressive marketing and branding strategies to let the World know, what we have to offer. To fulfil this objective, CII Tourism Fest is being organised with participation of all key stakeholders like the various state governments, tour and travel industry and the hospitality sector", shared Pikender Pal Singh, Regional Director, CII NR
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