W. Bengal sprucing up
tourist destinations

The Tourism Department of the West Bengal Government has taken up a number of developmental projects to promote its tourist destinations. The projects are funded by the Central government and supported by the state budget for the current financial year, 2006-07.
The Tourism Department's motto is to attract more and more domestic and foreign tourists to the state through better utilization of its available resources. Dr. G.D. Gautama, Principal Secretary (Tourism Department) talked about the projects already taken up and those to be undertaken this year. These include rural tourism development in Shantiniketan, Murshidabad and Sonada in Darjeeling district, destination tourism development in Bishnupur and Coochbehar, development of Kali temple at Dakhineshwar and development of recreation parks and lakes at Siliguri.
Gautama said,“Theses are our ongoing projects and work has already started in all those places. This apart, we have also got the Central Government's funding approval for the development of Kalighat. Work will begin shortly.”



A few separate tourism development projects have been also undertaken with the support of the state tourism budget in this fiscal. Theses are: tourism development at Gaur, construction of an observatory tower at a tourist destination in Coochbehar district and setting up some roadside facilities for tourists at Unishbisha, Mathabhaga and Coochbehar.
Along with the developmental projects, the Tourism Department has embarked on an aggressive promotion campaign to reach out to maximum number of travel-fond people. Apart from coming out with advertisement campaigns in the print media and showcasing the state tourist destinations in electronic media, the department has recently appointed a consultant firm to seek expertise knowledge in its promotional drive. The consultant company will advise the tourism department on fruitful publicity campaigns to allure travel-fond people.
The department has bagged a good budgetary back up to carry on with all these activities. The budget for the current financial year for tourism has increased by 25 percent over the previous year. Last year the planned outlay for the tourism sector was Rs. 5.75 crore while for the current financial year the department has been allocated a sum of Rs. 8 crore.
Commenting on the budget, Gautama said, “We have got some additional fund. So, we will be able to enhance our promotional and developmental activities.” Though, at the same time he believed that tourism is basically an industry meant for the private sector while the government could only play the role of a facilitator in improving infrastructure and promoting the state as a tourist destination.



Asked whether the state has sufficient accommodation arrangement for the tourists, Gautama said, “The State Tourism Development Corporation has its own hotels at several locations. Apart from that, the Forest Development Corporation of the state has also its own bungalows and cottages located at various tourist destinations. And we have good coordination with the Forest Department and we supplement each other' s needs. There are about 800 standard hotels as of now. Theses include all the lodges owned by various corporations under the state government.



Budget Hotels for Budget Tourists
He said the state government was also trying to promote the concept of budget hotels in West Bengal. Budget hotels are meant for budget tourists who account for a sizable portion of the total tourist footfalls in the state.
“A budget hotel is neither too cheap nor too expensive. It is a kind of hotel in which a tourist can access all the facilities of a five star hotel paying a rent ranging between Rs. 800 and Rs. 1200 per suite. A good number of hotels have already come up in places like Durgapore and Asansol following this concept. But we need more such hotels and for that we are inviting private partners,” Gautama said.
The tourist inflow into the state has maintained a steady growth rate for the last couple of years. In calendar 2004, the number of domestic tourists visiting West Bengal was recorded at 1.23 crore and the number of foreign tourists arrived in the state was 7.75 lakh. In the calendar year 2005 the number of domestic tourists stood at 1.35 crore and for foreign tourists the figure stood at 8.95 lakh.
According to the State Tourism Department, West Bengal ranked fifth in terms of foreign tourist arrivals and seventh in terms of domestic tourist footfalls, going by the latest statistics available. The state government is looking to double the figure of tourist footfalls in five years down the line and for that it is targeting an annual growth of more than 12 percent.