JAIPUR: State tourism department is drafting a new
policy to acquire an edge in segments like destination weddings, MICE activities and boost its attractiveness as a locale for film shootings. The draft legislation is also banking on the private sector to develop facilities on PPP mode.
Some estimates suggest weddings and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) is a Rs 5,000 crore industry in the state and has become a leading driver of occupancy in many hotels.
In the new policy which is in the works now, the state government is looking ways for incentivize the ecosystem players to beat the competition from states like Kochi and Goa.
“The focus is to build on the success in the segments like weddings and MICE. These new segments are witnessing turbocharged growth in the past few years. The new policy will reflect the importance of the sectors by providing tax and no-tax incentives,” said an official in the tourism department.
In the past several years, HVS and other reports have continuously recognized Jaipur and other cities in
Rajasthan as the fast-growing destinations for MICE and weddings.
With the rollout of GST, there is a small window for extending tax incentives. When asked about the mechanism the state will develop to provide the tax incentive, the official declined to give details and only said that those aspects will be factored in.
A draft of the policy has been sent to various departments for their comments. According the initial draft, prepared last year, it was envisaged that all concerned departments will take up tourism sector focused works with their plan budget and will be required to achieve expenditure of their departmental plan budget of 5% for such works over a period of three years.
But departments like forest, PWD, urban development and housing, local-self government and panchayati raj may be required to set aside 10% of their budget for development of tourism infrastructure.
While the draft document is pitching for identification of locations for MICE tourism and it is also looking for PPP models for establishing convention centres of national and international standards. As per the draft, tourism department will market Jaipur, Udaipur and Jodhpur as MICE destinations.
In 2015, the state government had brought out the last policy for tourism sector. Besides new areas like MICE, weddings, film shooting, adventure and eco-tourism, the new policy will also promote week-end circuits, culturl and religious tourism. But the announcement of the policy has been delayed as the priority of the government now shifts to state assembly elections later this year.
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