The state is creating the right infrastructure, right manpower, right environment, and right branding and promotion
Madhya Pradesh Tourism has adopted a comprehensive approach to accelerate the tourism growth in the state. The State Tourism Board is actively involving private players to develop the tourism infrastructure at all destinations in Madhya Pradesh.
“We have got heritage sights and other tourism products that need to be developed from the tourism perspective. We are developing a model to involve private stakeholder. We have pulled out a plan to handover a particular destination to a particular private player through PPP model. We select a private player through a transparent mechanism and the selected player will be entrusted with a job of developing that destination, introducing many activities that are required for tourism,” Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary, Tourism, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, said. Shukla further added that the chosen player will sell the destination along with the MP Tourism Board and the Board will provide incentives for creating such destination. The state has identified 10-15 sites that will be coming out for the bidding process soon.
Madhya Pradesh Tourism has a very active investor friendly policy. “We have one of the best tourism investment policies. Apart from hotels and resorts, we have 16 activities related to tourism like hot air ballooning, ropeways, treks, trails and other adventure activities. In the last 4-5 years, the have seen development of more than 5000 additional rooms in the state. There is a film tourism policy to offer incentives to filmmakers to let them come and shoot in Madhya Pradesh. So, this policy has done quite well to the state,” he added.
The state’s tourism policy is very proactive. “We have been revising the policy as per the requirement. Whenever we publicize any land parcel or we offer any heritage property, we get a very enthusiastic response. And best of the brands, they have already come to Madhya Pradesh, whether its Taj Group, Taj has the biggest presence in MP, Oberoi, Mahindra, Orange County,” he added.
Elaborating more on film tourism, Shukla said that the response has been extremely good in Madhya Pradesh for film tourism. “With one of the best policies in place, we provide a lot of comfort to the filmmakers in terms of handholding and ease of shooting permissions, and they are thronging to the state. The state has already got many destinations, which are so film-friendly, and we have specially curated campaigns for them, showcasing various places for shooting with all necessary information. We have got a film facilitation cell in Tourism Board which deals with film tourism, and hand holding of film producers. More than 200 projects have been done in Madhya Pradesh. More than 75 projects in the last 1 year only. When you see any of the OTTs and web series, you will find in the end ‘Special Thanks to MP Govt’,” he informed.
Talking about the promotion, he said that Madhya Pradesh Tourism is part of every important international trade exhibition and tourism events. “MP pavilions are one of the most popular pavilions out there and before going to any event, we do a lot of due diligence. Our international agency works for us to get the right kind of people to interact with. We have one- on-one sessions with them and discuss our various offerings with them, clear their minds about various things to inculcate Madhya Pradesh, as an itinerary into their brochure program. So, a lot of hard work is being done. I am sure, in the coming days, when the inbound travel picks up more, with ease of restrictions and e-visa coming on our way, we are going to see Madhya Pradesh flying,” he opined.
The state is equally focused on tapping the domestic and overseas markets. “As a government, we are supposed to create the right infrastructure, right manpower, right environment, and right branding and promotion. So, we are putting both sides, as domestic and international. In domestic, we have beautifully done the entire premise of Mahakal Mahalok project. Thousands and thousands of people come there every day and we have created more attraction in terms of showcasing the stories related to Shiva over there. So apart from having a darshan, people can spend a lot of time in Mahalok, and that also eases the pressure on the temple premises,” he said and added that more than 1.5 lakh visitors visit Mahakal every day.
“We need to do a lot for religious tourism as well. So, we are consciously working towards religious and spiritual tourism. Another big project is coming in Omkareshwar, where we are going to have 108 ft high statue of Adi Shankarcharya, who came from Kerala to Omakareshwar. We are creating a state-of-art museum showcasing Advaita and Vedānta philosophies in the most scientific manner, even to attract the youth, which is influenced too much by the western culture. We want them to understand our own ethos, our own philosophy and to take pride in that. All these things are happening in a big way in Madhya Pradesh, and I am very sure that 2-3 years down the line Madhya Pradesh will be way up in the tourism domain,” Shukla added.
Murari Mohan Jha
