The Govt of Punjab has reoriented its strategy to promote tourism in a big way. While it has been promoting its culture, heritage, history, religion and other segment, the new thrust is being given on rural and medical tourism. “The Heritage Street in Amritsar has really increased the footfall of tourists many times. The Golden Temple in Amritsar receives 1.25 lakhs tourist everyday which is the highest footfall compared to any other heritage in the country. The Wagah border is also getting good number tourists. There are lot of other attractions also in and around Amritsar,” Malwinder Singh Jaggi, Director, Punjab Tourism said. The Govt has also been working to conserve the heritage in the state. “We have identified many destinations in the state to develop them as world class. These include places such as Amritsar’s Heritage Street, Gobindgarh Fort, Wagah Border, Jallianwala Bagh, War Memorial, Partition Museum, Pul Moran and Maharaja Ranjit Singh Summer Place amongst others. We are restoring all the heritage sites in Punjab in a phased manner. But the important places like Kila Mubarak, Patiala, Sheesh Mahal, Ranwas Palace are also being renovated. We are converting Ranwas Palace in a heritage hotel. We also have plans to renovate sites of historical and religious importance with the help of Centre under the Swadesh Darshan scheme,” he informed.
The state tourism has its own budget and also getting support from the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India under various schemes for development of these heritages. “We are working on many projects with the loan from Asian Development Bank which sanctioned Rs 600 crores. Of these, we have already spent around Rs 250 crores. We will spend Rs 125 crores in the beautification Amritsar city,” he said and added that these efforts will give a major boost to tourism in the state.
The state tourism department is also developing rural tourism. “We are focussing on farm tourism. Some of the farm tourism products in Hoshiarpur are getting good response,” he added.
The state receives more than 4 crores tourists. “We welcome 4.83 lakh foreing tourists every year. Our aim is to grow this number and we aim to become one of the top states in terms of foreign tourist arrivals by 2020,” Jaggi added.
