Tourism

The lodge is an attraction for the tourists as it is situated close to Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary.

As the six rooms of the Holong Bungalow in the sanctuary are always reserved for the government officials, tourists have to stay in the Madarihat lodge to enjoy the beauty of the sanctuary. The visitors can enjoy elephant rides, and see horn rhinos, bison, deer and peacocks in the forest.

At present, there are 22 rooms and 12 dormitories, along with a restaurant, in the lodge.

T.V.N. Rao, the managing director (MD) of the corporation, said over the phone from Calcutta that all 22 rooms would be upgraded into "Three Star" category.

Dumping Ground Development Committee (DGDC) comprising residents of Bhalukhop and neighbouring areas has submitted a proposal to this effect to the Union ministry of micro, mini and small-scale industry.

"We are seeking funds under the rural infrastructure development programme of the ministry. The Bhalukhop gram panchayat has approved the plan and the DGDC will execute the project, the estimated cost of which is Rs 22 lakh," said Bishnu Chhteri, a member of the committee.

The viewpoint will be constructed on the main heap of the dumpyard, while the coffee house and arts and crafts centre will come up 200 metres away.

"The plan is to use bamboo for all construction purposes. The coffee house and art and crafts centre will be in a two-storied structure," said Chhetri.

The state home department has recently started reviewing the system after a request from the tourism department. At present, foreign tourists have to take special permission from the assistant secretary of the state tourism department at Writers' Buildings to go to the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve.

For this, they have to carry their passport and visas with them and apply in a form at Writers'. Once the clearance is given, they have to show this at the range office at Sajnekhali, where the entry fee is taken and the names are recorded. For Indians travelling to the region, only the clearance from the range office suffices.

The state home department had imposed the restriction on foreigners due to security reasons and to keep track of foreigners entering the sensitive biosphere of the mangrove forest. But travel agencies and individuals have often told the state tourism department officials that this creates unnecessary harassment.

According to R Sushila, executive director of Vivada, which conducts regular river cruises in the Sunderbans: "The offices are closed on Saturdays and Sundays, and naturally, permission cannot be taken on these days. Also, many foreigners do not want to part with their passports, so they have to be taken along to Writers' Buildings, where they have to wait for the permission. This takes a lot of time unnecessarily."

Vivada is among the many agencies that have written to the state forest and tourism departments repeatedly to lift this restriction on foreign tourists.

According to records with the forest department, of the 75,000 visitors to Sunderbans annually, only around 2,500 are foreigners. The number has increased steadily in the last few years. But the forest and tourism departments feel that more tourists can be attracted if the system of getting permission is made simpler. "This is the reason why we asked the state home department to review the system," a senior official of the state tourism department said on Monday.

Destination Calcutta, which is awaiting the Centre's approval, will cover Subhas Sarobar, Calcutta Police Museum, Chinatown and Dakshineswar Temple.

As part of the upgrade, meant to draw tourists in larger numbers, the government will undertake landscaping and set up parks, tourist shelters, information counters and open-air performance centres.

"Illumination, solid waste management and development of sewerage are among the thrust areas," said Muhammad Saidul Haque, the general manager of the state tourism development corporation.

"The idea behind Destination Calcutta is to turn the city into a favourable tourist spot," said tourism secretary Bijoy Chatterjee. "We have selected these four spots because they are not maintained properly and do not have adequate infrastructure."

"I have taken up the matter with the Railway ministry to facilitate tourist departure from New Jalpaiguri to Kolkata and other railway stations," Information and Broadcasting Minister P R Dasmunshi said in a statement here.

Dasmunshi, who is also the WBPCC chief, said that the GJM's call for an indefinite bandh in the Darjeeling hills has created a law and order problem, specially for tourists.

He appealed to the hill leaders and political parties to cooperate with the state administration to maintain law and order.

The last nawab of Awadh, or Oudh, spent the last 30 years of his life in Metiabruz, after being dethroned by the East India Company.

The restoration will be undertaken under the guidance of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), said an official. "The ASI will restore Shah's tomb, the imambara where he lived, the concert hall or majlishi and the mosque where the deposed nawab used to offer namaz."

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation had earlier decided to offer Rs 10 lakh to the district authorities for the project. But following a request from district magistrate Sanghamitra Ghosh, mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya agreed to shoulder the entire cost. The district magistrate is an ex-officio member of the Sibtainabad Trust that looks after the properties.

The Darjeeling-Ghoom night ride -- a 16-km to-and-fro journey -- was flagged off on Friday, adding another first to the toy train's unique history.

"Tourists and even locals have nothing to do in Darjeeling after sunset. We thought, why not give them something that will make their evenings worthwhile," said Darjeeling Himalayan Railway director Subrata Nath.

There will be two runs every evening with all three coaches specially decked up with carpets and Nepali folk songs setting the mood for the starry journey. The first trip will be from 3 pm to 5 pm and the second from 5.30 pm to 8 pm. Tickets are priced at Rs 500 each (Rs 300 for the evening ride without food).

Passengers taking the first ride will be treated to local cuisine, like momos, coffee and other snacks, while those
taking the night ride will be served dinner on the roof of the Darjeeling railway station.

"Each coach will have hostesses in traditional costume. There will be soft music in the background," said Sanjay Goswami, director of KBS Tours and Travel, which will run the services for five years.

To make the night more memorable, a cultural programme will be organized at the Batasia loop for the passengers, where the train usually halts for about 20 minutes for tourists to take photos.

Even private parties -- like birthday and anniversary celebrations -- can be held on the night ride. "We want to expand our services keeping tourists in mind. But we are keen to involve the hills people also, which is why we have inducted local talent for the cultural dance and dinner," said Goswami.

Tourists holidaying in Darjeeling greeted the news with cheer. "Frankly, the nights are usually dull in Darjeeling. But we are thrilled about taking the night ride. We are sure this will tempt people to come here more often," said Sudipto Saha, from Kolkata

"West Bengal is a very safe state and there have been no reports of foreigners being raped or killed in the state in the last few years," the sources said.

While around 1.26 lakh foreign tourists visited the city in 2007, 98,307 foreign tourists visited the City of Joy in 2006. In 2005, the figure was 86,974, the sources said.

Compared to 2006, there was about a 29 per cent rise in the number of foreign tourists visiting the city last year, the sources said.

With regards to publicity and marketing, the need to overhaul the West Bengal Tourism website operated by West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) has been emphasised so that tourists can get better information and also make bookings online. In order to make the website more user-friendly, WBTDC may seek help from the private sector or decide to shift the portal on a PPP model. Professional marketing and communication agencies will be engaged for undertaking publicity campaigns from time to time.

As part of the agreement, Emaar-MGF will work towards expanding West Bengal's tourism portfolio and will further develop existing tourist destinations, including Sunderbans.

"West Bengal has a great potential to be developed as a tourist hotspot in the country. Emaar-MGF is committed to help the state in strengthening its hospitality infrastructure. The company's focus on hospitality aligns with the government vision to position West Bengal as a gateway to the east for inbound as well as outbound tourists," Rai said.

He said the initiative would catalyse the development of the state's economy and provide an impetus to generate additional revenue opportunities in the state.

Rai said: "Emaar-MGF is developing three hotels in the luxury segment near Kolkata - JW Marriott and Holiday Inn on the EM Bypass involving an investment of Rs.7.5 billion and Park Hyatt at Russell Street with an investment of Rs.5.5 billion."

Emaar-MGF is a joint venture between Emaar Properties PJSC, Dubai, and India's MGF Developments Ltd.

Additional Secretary (Tourism) Bijoy Chatterjee announced the new policy on Friday, stating that the state will witness private investment amounting to Rs 4,000 crore in the next two years.

He added that companies like EMAAR MGF and Mahindra & Mahindra were some of the investors interested in the tourism sector of the state. Such companies will invest in hotels, training institutes, resorts and tourism villages. Chatterjee said that keeping in view the rising price of land, the floor area ratio norms, similar to that of IT sector, will be applied to hotel projects. For the first time, the tourism policy talks about the possibility of creating tourist police to provide security to tourists. Budget hotels will be asked to increase the number of rooms in their city branches.

He added 35 projects related to tourism are waiting for the Centre's approval. "I sincerely hope that of these projects, the Ganga project, the Calcutta circuit tourism project and the project at Sajnekhali will be approved," said Chatterjee.

The Tourism department, in consultation with the Land and Land Revenue department, the Urban Development department and the district authorities will create a land bank by identifying and earmarking lands that can be made available for tourism-related projects.

"Architecturally, Kolkata is a treasure trove with stately Raj-era mansions all over
central and north Kolkata. Several of these privately owned buildings are in poor shape. To owners, they are a liability as they are expensive to maintain. We are suggesting a viable alternative: convert them into hotels and restaurants so that they generate revenue. We will invite interested owners to an interface with bankers so that they develop bankable projects," tourism minister Manab Mukherjee said after releasing the new tourism policy at Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Friday.

The year started on a high note for the state as West Bengal was the theme state at the famous Surajkund crafts mela in February this year, in Haryana. Sources confirmed that the tourism department spent Rs 1 crore for the mela. The venue was decorated with traditional artwork and exquisite motifs. Around 61 artisans from Bengal participated in the fair and exhibited their art and the state’s rich tradition of crafts.

Taking the mela as a publicity platform, the tourism department started a new set of campaigns with suave-looking posters, brochures and pamphlets as part of the “Beautiful Bengal campaign, designed by the Press and Publicity Syndicate Pvt Ltd. According to sources, a total of Rs 33,000 was spent on designing the brochures for 28 locations that have been made available at all tourist offices across the state. The brochures have been designed to promote tea tourism, ecology and adventure tourism and promote certain offbeat destinations like Garubathan, Lepchajagat and Paren.

“Our campaigns have been very successful. We are looking forward to attracting more tourists at the forthcoming travel bazaar”, said TVN Rao, Managing Director, West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation Limited (WBTDC).

On the target audience Anil Punjabi, Chairman, TAFI, Eastern Region, said, "We have been receiving several queries especially from domestic travelers. They face issues, which are unavoidable and have to be dealt with immediately. We will make sure that this 24X7 helpline is backed by the most educated travel team to equip the travelers with the best solutions." TAFI Eastern region chapter is setting up a centralised system for the helpline.

On the promotional plans, Punjabi commented, "We have tied up with the media to publicise the helpline number. Also we will be requesting all our members to publish the number on the materials they disburse such as the ticket, brouchers etc. We are also planning to get members of other major associations to do the same as the helpline will benefit all travelers."