Vibrant boost to Gujarat tourism sector

Demand from participants, delegates to club short-haul tours in state with global event has risen

While Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel might be touring the country wooing participants and investors alike for the upcoming edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit, the event footfall is also likely to significantly boost the tourism sector in the state.

With a few hundred thousand participants and delegates from all across the country and the globe, demand for short-haul trips in the state have risen manifold. According to Manish Sharma, owner of Akshar Travels and also the chairman of the Gujarat Tourism Development Society (GTDS) which is the official travel partner of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit and handling all the travel arrangements for the official delegates, his travel agency has already received over 5,000 bookings for Gujarat tours in January. Sharma works with several tour operators in the state.

Sharma said that most of the delegates who would be in town for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas and the Vibrant Gujarat Summit are planning to club a short state tour along with the visit. "Ahmedabad city tours, Rann Utsav, bird watching at Nalsarovar in winters, are the most popular enquiries, mainly among the foreign delegates. Around 25 per cent of the total enquiries we are getting are from foreign travellers," he said.

This apart, there is also demand for tour plans across Gujarat. "Mid-January onwards, we are expecting the entire Gujarat circuit to be choc-a-bloc, especially the popular tourist destinations of Gir, Somnath and Dwarka," Sharma said. Going by the rate at which queries are flowing in, the total number of bookings is expected to easily double to over 10,000. Delegates would start flowing in for the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (from January 7 to 9) followed immediately by the Vibrant Gujarat Summit (January 11 to 13).

Keeping this in mind, Akshar Travels, which is the official travel partner of the Vibrant Summit this year, from hotel to taxi bookings for the participants, has planned Gujarat circuit tours between January 7 to 20, the period when most of the participants would want to club a short trip right before or after the events. "Two luxury bus coaches would depart from Ahmedabad daily during that period, covering Junagadh, Sasan-Gir, Somnath, Dwarka, Jamnagar, Kutch, Nalsarovar and the Ahmedabad city circuit," Sharma said.

As such January is peak tourism month for Gujarat, with the Rann Utsav in Kutch starting in December, and bird-watching enthusiasts visiting the state for migratory birds in winters and the Kite Festival (Uttarayan) all happening during the same month. This year two back to back events are expected to boost the tourist circuit in the state further.