Maharashtra seeks increased tourist flow from UP

MTDC launches its Tourist Information Centre in Lucknow to disseminate information about various tourist destinations

Maharashtra, which is ranked 4th in attracting domestic backpackers, is eyeing increased tourist flow from Uttar Pradesh.

UP alongside Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh, account for the largest chunk of tourists seeking spiritual and religious destinations in Maharashtra.

“UP has always been a potential market for us and we want more tourist flow from the state,” Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) Managing Director Jagdish Patil said here.

To disseminate information about various tourist destinations and packages offered by Maharashtra and coordinate with big tour operators in UP, MTDC today launched its Tourist Information Centre in Lucknow.

Maharashtra gets 65 million domestic tourists annually, while it welcomes nearly 25% of the total foreign tourist inflow in India. UP tops in receiving foreign tourists in India.

“We are opening offices in other parts of the country as well. We would be represented through agencies in India and abroad, where we cannot open representative centres,” he informed.

Patil said Maharashtra had lot to offer to tourists in terms of variety, such as heritage, culture, festivals, Bollywood, hill stations, beaches, spiritual/religious spots etc. “Except for desert and snow, Maharashtra offers every type of tourism for backpackers,” he underlined.

Meanwhile, MTDC is planning to organise road shows in Kolkata and Chennai and had already promoted tourist destinations through such events in Delhi, Agra, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Goa.

Later talking to Business Standard, he informed the state was also looking at promoting medical tourism by roping in private partners in healthcare and wellness segment. “We are setting up Asia’s largest water theme park names ‘Sea World India’ spread over 1,200 acres in our state,” he said.