The Uttar Pradesh government unveiled on Monday a new tourism policy to attract investment and increase footfalls at various tourism spots in the countdown to the Investors’ Summit.Published on : Tuesday, February 20, 2018
The Uttar Pradesh government unveiled on Monday a new tourism policy to attract investment and increase footfalls at various tourism spots in the countdown to the Investors’ Summit.
The state government has planned to motivate foreign tourists to participate in Diwali festival at Ayodhya this year. On February 23 and 24, chief minister Yogi Adityanath will showcase Holi festival at Barsana. The department has also launched a “Bed and Breakfast” scheme under the new policy.
The new policy focuses on religious and heritage tourism with fiscal incentives within 20 km radius of all tourist spots and 10 tourism circuits promoted by the state government, including Ramayan circuit, Braj circuit, Buddhist circuit, wildlife and eco-tourism circuit, Bundelkhand circuit, Mahabharata circuit, Shakti Peeth circuit, spiritual circuit, Sufi circuit and Jain circuit.
Tourism minister Rita Bahuguna Joshi said the focus of the new policy was to promote PPP model in tourism sector. The state government had decided to open door to private players to develop tourist spots and provide facilities to the tourists. “The state government has granted industry status to tourism and the aim is to generate employment as well,” she said.
The Tourism department has already signed MoUs worth to ₹10,000 crore with private companies and has received 70 investment proposals. The department has set the target of investing ₹5,000 crore in the tourism sector every year.
While for investment up to ₹50 crore, the state government will give subsidy of Rs 7.5 crore, for investment above ₹50 crore it will give maximum subsidy of ₹10 crore.
A tourism department team will participate in Berlin Tourist Fair from March 7 to 11 where apart from showcasing the state tourism spots the team will also hold talks with international tourism operators.
Also, the state plans to showcase Kumbh Mela- 2019 in a big way, both nationally and internationally.
Principal secretary, Tourism, Avinish Awasthi said the department was trying to increase the number of foreign tourists by 10 per cent annually and domestic tourists by 15 per cent.
Tags: new tourism policy, Uttar Pradesh