Tag Archives: West Bengal

R. Arjun, Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC), says that they have plans to develop artisan cluster villages on the way to major tourist destinations. “This way tourists can have a small stopover to find out some of the important artisan products.”

The West Bengal cabinet has announced the new guidelines for the recognition of tourism service providers of Bengal. Under the new guidelines, the State Tourism Department will extend recognition to the eligible tourism service providers registered in West Bengal in the segments of tour operators, travel agents and tourist transport operators. This would certainly help the state to position Bengal as one of the top line destinations in India by ensuring quality service providers for the travellers across the world.

Hotel Association of India (HAI) has launched its West Bengal Chapter, and has submitted a memorandum of industry demands to West Bengal Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee and Finance Minister Dr. Amit Mitra, seeking industry status for the hospitality sector. The association has suggested that this will help in reducing costs and encourage re-investment while bringing greater transparency in the sector functioning. A favourable policy decision of according industry status and allowing benefits available to manufacturing will strengthen the Indian hospitality industry, preserve and unlock its immense potential to make a significant contribution to the State’s GDP and jobs, supporting the post-pandemic economic revival of the region. MP Bezbaruah, Secretary General, Hotel Association of India, said, “The Association believes that granting industry status to the sector will enable hotels across the state to avail benefits towards electricity and water tariff at an industrial rate, lower property tax, rationalisation of taxes & license fees, simplified approval process for hotel projects & hotel operations and other benefits accorded to industries – thus helping in ushering transparency, reduce costs, and encourage reinvestment. Such small steps are crucial for revival of the sector after the disastrous impact of the Pandemic and essential considering the extent of employment and income the sector generates.”

Nandini Chakraborty, Tourism Secretary, West Bengal, has revealed that the current occupancy at around 30 operational properties of West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDCL) is 100%. “We have done extensive promotion on social and other media about our properties as well as the state, and the response has been phenomenal,” she commented. Hotels and guest houses at popular tourist destinations Bengal are seeing over 80% occupancy in the last 2-3 months, which is more than the average occupancy of 60-70% which these properties have recorded in the last 2-3 years. Source: TOI

Rupsi airport in Assam has been redeveloped at an estimated cost of Rs69 crore, and is ready to commence flight operations under UDAN, said AAI, providing direct connectivity to cities like Guwahati in Assam and Kolkata in West Bengal. Its runway is suitable for landing ATR72 type aircraft. The terminal building has 10 check-in counters.

Ministry of Culture has constituted new ASI circles in six states. Prahlad Singh Patel, Minister of Tourism & Culture, announced, “In MP, Jabalpur has a new circle; for Bundelkhand (UP), Jhansi will be a separate circle and for South UP, Meerut; in Gujarat, Rajkot will be the second circle; Hampi and Delhi will be full circles; in Tamil Nadu, Trichy and in West Bengal, Raiganj will be separate circles.”

Homestays in West Bengal is growing at a pace of 30 per cent compound annual growth rate, said Nandini Chakravorty, Principal Secretary, Tourism Department, West Bengal. She also revealed that the foreign tourist arrivals in the state have grown up by 2.57 per cent despite the slowdown in the global economy.  “The state government’s homestay policy encouraged the homestay sector and is growing at a CAGR of more than 30 per cent,” she claimed. Tourism minister Gautam Deb focused on the tourism and homestay policies and said that there are around 3000 homestays in north Bengal.

The India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB) has launched its West Bengal Chapter at the 11th edition of its Convention India Conclave (CIC) in Kolkata. Amaresh Tiwari, Honorary Secretary, ICPB, said, “We are focusing on developing MiCE across India. ICPB is growing its wings and first time in the history of ICPB we are opening the first chapter—West Bengal Chapter in Kolkata, where the government official will be the chapter head. And similarly, we will be going from state to state to build the chapter and this is going to be done with central and state partnership basis.”  

West Bengal tourism department is currently focusing on homestay tourism policy and has also started promoting adventure tourism in different destinations of the state, said Gautam Deb, Tourism Minister, Government of West Bengal, on the sidelines of the Bengal Travel Mart (BTM) in Siliguri. Deb inaugurated the third edition of BTM along with Bratya Basu, Information Technology Minister, Government of West Bengal, and James Kujur, Tribal Development Minister, Government of West Bengal. “Bengal has immense potential. We are currently working to develop each sector of tourism in the state – from forest to hills to coastal areas. We are also preparing our integrated tourism policy along with homestay and adventure tourism policies,” he said. Deb also pointed out that the Bagdogra airport’s instrument landing system (ILS) will start operating from March 29, as per an AAI notification. He was happy to inform that in the previous year, the passenger growth at the airport touched 22 lakh. The three-day travel mart was attended by buyers and sellers from across the country and abroad to establish partnership. The event was organised by Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators Association  (EHTTOA) in association with North Bengal Development Department and West Bengal Tourism.

The third edition of the Bengal Travel Mart (BTM) 2018 has been scheduled to be held from February 16-18 at Baghajatin Park, Siliguri. The objective is to establish Siliguri as a market place for gateway to the Eastern Himalayas. The event is being organised by Eastern Himalaya Travel and Tour Operators Association (EHTTOA) in association with North Bengal Development Department (NBDD) and West Bengal Tourism. Buyers from India abroad are expected to participate in the event. BTM attracts exhibitors to showcase their expertise and identify the thriving business opportunities in West Bengal.