The Government of Maharashtra has promised to do all it can to fuel the growth of tourism as well as to draw more tourists to the state
At the recently concluded IATO Annual Convention in Mumbai, Prithviraj Chavan, Chief Minister, Government of Maharashtra, revealed that the state government is going to adopt a multidimensional approach to push tourism growth in the state. Maharashtra, he said, has documented its Buddhist sites and is planning to develop an integrated Buddhist circuit to draw visitors from South East Asian countries. “We are in talks with the consulates of China, Japan, Singapore and Thailand for better connectivity to strengthen these countries as source markets,” he added. Moreover, the state tourism department has also identified a few tiger reserve sites to promote wildlife tourism. In addition, it is leveraging on its position as a wine tourism destination.
“What we also want to do is position Mumbai as a leisure destination and not just a transit one. We are in discussion with the Shipping Corporation of India to set up a world class cruise terminal. We are also developing eco-friendly resorts along our coastline. We realise that we are not leveraging on one of our greatest strengths – Bollywood, and are hence in discussions to develop a Bollywood museum, which will greatly add inbound as well as domestic traffic. We need multilingual guides to make the experience more enjoyable and easier for inbound tourists,” he added
Referring to the hospitality industry’s woes, Chavan said, “To help them, we are working on getting the number of permissions required to develop a property reduced. We will also increase the licence validity period from one year to five years. The stamp duty for transfer of ownership of land from the state to a private player will be given special consideration.”
He further added that duties levied on tour buses will be reduced for interstate travel. Concessions will also be made on water charges that the industry has to pay as they are higher than residential charges. “Sindhudurg in Maharashtra has now been declared a tourist destination and we welcome infrastructure proposals for the area. We are also working on reducing luxury taxes as well as ATF taxes,” concluded Chavan.
At the closing ceremony of the IATO convention, Chhagan Bhujbal, Tourism Minister, Government of Maharashtra, announced that registration fees for tour buses operating in municipal areas will be reduced. Electricity and water charges, he said, will be provided at industrial rate, and there will be no water and electricity charge at Sindhudurg. “Furthermore, projects for which government land is unavailable will be made available to private players on a PPP model. Adventure sports, added infrastructure, development of the Buddhist Circuit, the provision of clean toilets and wi-fi facilities at tourist destinations will be the ministry’s priority. Scuba diving will also be provided in Tarkarli by March 2013,” he added.
