ANALYSIS
Durga Puja boosts tourism West Bengal has geared up to attract the inbound market and domestic tourists. This was witnessed during the recently concluded Durga Puja in October, where the state promoted itself to the inbound and domestic segment. M E G H A PAU L
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ccording to Rachhpal Singh, Tourism Minister, West Bengal, the State had earlier hosted roadshows in Bengaluru and Mumbai besides organising campaigns in the US and Canada. Efforts have been on to woo tourists from Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and from the neighbouring countries with the help of various central and foreign agencies. “Though profit making is not the target of the state government, more tourists will open up sources of income, for many people here,” Singh added. In order to showcase Durga Puja, the West Bengal Tourism Department had recruited tourist police on a temporary basis to guide visitors. All these efforts also led to a spurt in the bookings of the inbound tour operators. Says Sham Lal Soni, Chairman, West Bengal
Rachhpal Singh
Rodney Kaypee
Tourism Minister West Bengal
General Manager, Hotel Hindusthan International, Kolkata
More tourists will open up sources of income for many people here the Ganges and river cruise connecting Belur Math,
We witnessed an increase in bookings by almost 30 per cent during the Durga Puja period Sham Lal Soni, Chairman, West Bengal Chapter – IATO Chapter - IATO, “We witnessed an increase in bookings by almost 30 per cent during the Durga Puja period. Some of the packages that sold extremely well included visits to major puja pandals and those of erstwhile aristocratic families, celebrating puja on
Dakshineswar and Botanical Garden.” West Bengal offers a rich variety of Experiential Tourism and Durga Puja boosts the destination selling capacity, he adds. Even the hospitality industry has performed
The overall increase in occupancy during the Puja days was nearly 12 per cent exceedingly well during the period. Talking about the increase in the number of bookings for the Durga Puja period, Rodney Kaypee, General Manager, Hotel Hindusthan International, Kolkata reveals, “This year, we saw an increase of 40 per cent over last year in terms of hotel stays. One of the factors was the long Durga Puja holidays encompassing two weekends. The overall increase in occupancy during the Puja days was nearly 12 per cent.” According to Kaypee, the business during the Durga Puja was largely domestic FITs coming in from satellite towns.
Oman slashes visa fee for Indians Oman’s Ministry of Tourism recently announced that the new Tourist Visa fee reductions introduced will now apply to Indian travellers as well. In early 2012, Oman introduced heavily discounted
and more flexible Tourist Visas. Single entry Visas for up to 10 days cost OMR 5 and single entry stays of 10 days to a month are OMR 20. Maitha Al Mahrouqi, Undersecretary, Ministry of
Tourism, Oman said, “We want to reaffirm to India’s travel trade and consumers that Oman’s heavily discounted and more flexible Tourist Visas work for India’s holiday and business travellers.”
Visa process gets simpler Cox & Kings Global Services Sweden AB, announced the commencement of visa services on behalf of Embassy of India, Stockholm. The Embassy of India signed a contract with M/S Cox and Kings Global Services Sweden AB on October 23,
2012, post which, it will provide visa assistance on behalf of the Embassy of India in Stockholm with effect from November 5, 2012. Speaking on the tie-up, Sanjay Bhaduri, CEO, CKGS said, “We are certain that this
tie-up will provide great assistance and convenience to travellers from Sweden who want to visit India. This will not only make the process simpler but will also aid in increasing the demand for Indian destinations.”