Gujarat, Rajasthan to jointly promote tourism

In a bid to attract more number of foreign tourists in western part of the country, Gujarat and Rajasthan state governments have decided to work jointly for tourism promotion. With a memorandum of understanding (MoU) expected to be signed soon, the two states intend to attract tourists from Europe and the US to western India, said Vipul Mittra, principal secretary, tourism and civil aviation, Government of Gujarat (GoG).

Speaking at the 'Great Indian Travel Bazaar 2011' organised by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Mittra said that the state government is also in talks with the Maharashtra Government for the joint western India tourism promotion strategy. The Gujarat Government is also taking steps to improve air connectivity for the ease of foreign tourists in cities like Ahmedabad and Surat. For this purpose, the tourism department has tied up with Air Deccan which will run two ATR flight daily from Ahmedabad and Surat to 11 other airports in Gujarat.

"It has also been decided to promote film tourism in the state in a big way. The tourism department is talking to Bollywood producers to take advantage of Gujarat's conducive environment for film shooting by way of hospitable and cultured people and law and order. In fact, Kutchh and Mandvi can be ideal locations for film makers. This would go a long way in promoting tourism amongst international audiences," said Mittra.

In this regard, the state government has also signed an MoU with a group in Surat and 400 acres of land had been acquired to establish a film city that would larger and better than Ramoji Rao Film City in Hyderabad. Mittra observed that the state government was looking for private sector participation in building large tourism-related infrastructure projects. The recently-concluded 'Vibrant Gujarat' convention, he said, had seen a huge expression of interest amongst investors. About Rs 75,000 crore of investment had already been promised and all projects are in the pipeline.