Rajasthan mulls tie-ups with Assam, Meghalaya to promote tourism

Rajasthan is exploring tie-ups with Assam and Meghalaya to promote tourism through "cross-cultural exchange".

Rajasthan Tourism today organised a roadshow in Guwahati – 'Rajasthan Calling' – in a bid to attract tourists from Assam and North-East.

The two-day festival is part of Rajasthan Tourism's domestic tourism promotion campaign to be held in 19 major cities across the country, including Kochi, Chennai, Mumbai, Bangalore, Patna, Kolkata, Ahmadabad, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Chandigarh.

"We will explore the possibility of tie-ups with the state governments of Assam and Meghalaya to promote tourism in our state through cross cultural exchange," said Punita Singh, assistant director, department of tourism, Rajasthan.

Tie up with tour-operators of Assam and North-East was on cards of Rajasthan Tourism, besides organising such festivals and road-shows in other parts of the region in near future, added Singh.

Though Singh could not give any figure on the tourist inflow from North-East into Rajasthan on yearly basis, she said the state tourism department was mulling to put a mechanism in place in future to keep a count on state-wise domestic tourist inflow figures.

Singh said that Rajasthan was focusing more on domestic tourists to promote its tourism sector.

"With 14.6 laksh foreign tourists and 283 lakh domestic tourists' arrivals in 2008, Rajasthan is now one of the most sought-after tourist destinations in India," she said.

Singh said the primary reason for organsing the festival in Guwahati was to give a feel of Rajasthan and facilitate a better understanding about the state and provide complete information, besides showcasing Rajasthan's traditional culture and the exquisite range of handicraft products and delicacies.