J'khand witnesses nearly 4-fold increase in Int'l tourists

Jharkhand has witnessed nearly four-fold increase in international tourists in the last three years, helped largely by development of dedicated infrastructure for the travellers.

The state government is also encouraging cultural tourism, mining tourism, waterfall tourism and tourism across various picturesque spots and developing infrastructure for the purpose, Chief Minister Raghubar Das told PTI.

"We are not working one one sector, rather we are working on five to six sectors in parallel," the chief minister said.

Das said Jharkhand would be developing tourism sector in phases and in the first phase, it was committed to develop four to five international tourism spots.

"Deoghar is being developed on war footing. Similarly, Parasnath in Giridih, Rajarappa in Ramgarh and Anjanidham in Gumla are being developed.

"Whatever important tourist places are in the state they have been connected by good roads, and in the first 1,000 days of the state government, roads have reached all the tourist places. This has helped in the increase of national and international tourists coming to the tourist spots of the state," he said.

The chief minister said the number of international tourists had increased nearly four-fold from 2013 to 2016, rising from 45,994 tourists in 2013 to 1,69,442 in 2016.

Similarly, the number of domestic tourists had increased by almost 65 per cent in the last three years.

Das said tourist locations were needed to be peaceful to attract national and international visitors and the state government was working towards ensuring that those spots remained free from militant activities.

The chief minister said the state was also planning circuit tourism in different regions. The state was readying free bus services at Bodhgaya and Tarapith.

The chief minister said next year, the state government would organise 'Jharkhand Mahatsov', wherein the culture and tradition of Jharkhand would be showcased to the world.

He said that Patratu near Ranchi was being developed as adventure and water sports tourism spot. Similarly, Betla National Park was being improved to attract more tourists.