Crouching Tiger, Roaring Dragon: - Travel News Digest

12 INDIA November 2011 · TRAVEL NEWS DIGEST
Uttarakhand plans
to improve inbound
Uttarakhand is working on
improving its ranking in inbound
tourism. The hilly state is considering
new stretches for river
The Haryana government proposal
to revive an over 75 kilometre
long course of the Saraswati
river has been held up
because Oil and Natural Gas
Commission Limited (ONGC)
has not cleared its request to
dig two deep bore wells for
supplying fresh water to the
river channel.
“The project is almost defunct
for all practical reasons,” says
Darshan Lal Jain who has been
pursuing the project for several
years through an NGO
(Non-government Organisation)
called Saraswati River
Research Organisation. Jain,
who looked at the project as a
panacea for providing drinking
water and tourism, today
sounds a dispirited man.
The ONGC entered into an
agreement with Haryana government
about half a decade ago
to explore the course of the river
rafting to promote adventure
tourism and is looking at development
and management of
infrastructure projects through
Forgotten and forsaken
which finds a mention in Vedas,
Mahabharata and several other
Hindu scriptures.
Subsequently, the state government
convinced farmers
on a 52 kilometre-long stretch
to vacate their lands for flow
of fresh water and launched
the project near Pipli, a town
on National highway-I near
Kurukshetra.
Archaeologist Rajesh Purohit,
who did extensive work on
Saraswati, asked the detractors
to have a look at the plethora
of evidence available with
the Archaeological Survey of
India, Geological Survey of
India, ONGC, Indian Space
Research Organisation and
other research groups, claiming
that besides providing water
for drinking and irrigation, the
revival of the river could save
Kurukshetra from floods during
the rains.
public private partnerships to
make unexplored destinations
tourist-friendly.
Uttarakhand is India’s seventh
most preferred tourist
state, attracting 4.1% of domestic
tourists, according to Business
Standard report. The Uttarakhand
Tourism Development
Board (UTDB) is keen to see the
state among the country’s top
five places by turning it into a
preferred destination for both
domestic and foreign tourists.
“We are promoting adventure
sports, traditional yatra routes,
eco-tourism, and leisure tourism
to achieve the goal,” said
Rakesh Sharma, chief executive
officer, UTDB and principal secretary
tourism, Government of
Uttarakhand.
The state tourism board is
looking at participating in trade
fairs across the globe to attract
both foreign and domestic tourists.
Estimates show that Uttarakhand
received around 31 million
domestic tourists in 2010, a rise of
34% from 23.1 million in the previous
year. Foreign tourists to the
state increased marginally to 0.13
million from 0.11 million.
Goa to become
first state
with tourist
security force
Goa will be the first Indian
state to have a full-fledged
tourist security force (TSF)
of 476 men under 25 years of
age in two categories reporting
directly to the tourism
department by early next
year.
The TSF’s task will
include: patrolling Goan
tourist hotspots, preventing
crime and generally aiding
tourists.
According to a report in
the Times Of India, the tourism
department, already, has
an informal tourist security
force of about 35 ex-servicemen
working on contract
basis. Now, it has advertised
for 246 posts of tourist wardens
and 230 posts of assistant
tourist wardens.
Shillong to host
India-Swiss tourism
meet next year
The Meghalaya government
wants to have interaction with
neighbouring countries
like Bhutan, Bangladesh
and Thailand,
besides participating
in the tourism festivals
organised in
European countries.
Shillong will likely
be the next venue
of the India-Switzerland
tourism
meet next year.
Chief Minister
Mukul
Sangma, who visited Switzerland
along with two tourism
department officials to attend
the festival held on August 5
and 6, said a proposal was
submitted to select Shillong
as the next venue.
During a workshop held
in Switzerland as part of the
Cruise tourism
back in Kochi
AMET Cruises is picking up the
cruise options from where Louis
Cruise had left due to high berth
charges. The AMET group has
already started arrangements
to operate the cruise by the first
week of October.
The MV AMET Majesty will
initially set sail from Kochi to
Maldives, Lakshwadeep and also
undertake a cruise on the high
sea. Every week, the MV AMET
Majesty would sail from Kochi
to Maldives (four nights), Kochi-
Lakshadweep (two nights) and
also operate one high-sea trip
during the night for those who
want to try out something new
for holidaying, said AMET Shipping
India Private Ltd managing
tourism meet, Sangma presented
the tourism potential
of Meghalaya to the audience.
After the presentation Swiss
officials told the Meghalaya
delegation that the landscape
and waterfalls which were
similar to Switzerland, fascinated
them.
director and chief executive officer
P Bharathi.
AMET cruise had introduced
a new format of holiday, recreation
and entertainment in the
country. The lowest price would
be around `5,000 per person
for a night and port charges. In
case of advance bookings, special
packages would be offered.
The cruise will have dance floor,
disco casinos, show lounges
bars, swimming pool, barbeque,
conference room and
kids’ zone. It also has an event
floor for business meets, seminars,
trade shows, anniversaries
and social gatherings along
with luxurious state rooms,
suites and stag cabins.