Maharashtra eyes 6% rise in tourist arrival in FY17

Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation is eyeing 6 per cent growth in footfalls this fiscal as it has set up a directorate for publicity and promotion of tourism in the state.
"We have set up a directorate that will look into promotions, publicity and skill development in the tourism sector in the state. We are also working at re-branding Maharashtra as a tourism destination.
"And on the back of this we are expecting 6 per cent increase visitor footfalls this financial year," Principal Secretary Tourism and Culture Valsa Nair told PTI here.
The state government had recently come up with tourism policy, which envisages over Rs 30,000 crore investment and generate 10 lakh employment in Maharashtra, she said.

"We signed agreements worth over Rs 15,000 crore during the 'Make in India' week and we expect it to cross over Rs 30,000 crore. In the tourism policy, we have tried to incorporate the best practises of top states and countries who are doing very well in the tourism sector.
"We have adapted these best practises to suit to our local conditions. The policy has also tried to create niche sectors, like monsoon tourism and film tourism, and how to develop them," she added.

According to Nair, MTDC is mainly focusing on promote and practise sustainable tourism.
Maharashtra saw 20 crore travellers visiting the state in 2015-16, of which 80-82 per cent were domestic tourists.

Nair said, 14 sectors have been identified as focus areas and MTDC will bring out policies soon in each of them that will have guidelines to develop them further.
"In the policy we have identified 14 focus areas, including film, medical, adventure, caravan and rural among others. We will also come out with policies for each of these sectors individually in 6 months. We will now create database to make guidelines for these sectors," she said.
Nair further said that MTDC is planning a single window clearance for investment in the hospitality sector.
"We are now identifying the licences required for setting up a property and to make it operational. Once all the licences are identified we will bring it all under one window and the process will be done online. It will take about 3 months," she added.