The state government is creating tourist infrastructure at Char Dham, the major draw for the tourists visiting the state. Various ropeway projects are coming up under public private partnership at Rambara- Kedarnath, Rishikesh- Neelkanth, Dehradun- Musorrie, Jankichatti-Yamunotri, Thuligad-Purnagiri and Surkandadevi etc, revealed a senior official of the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board. The government has already received tenders for ropeways at Yamunotri-Jankichatti and Purnagiri-Chulighat out of the 16 places which have been identified for ropeways. The state government has also stepped up its efforts to keep Char Dham, Hemkund Sahib, Piran Kaliyar and other tourist places clean and safe to provide world class facilities to tourists. The government further plans to develop bio-degradable toilets at major tourist destinations. The Board is focused on developing the manifold tourism related resources of the state in an eco-friendly manner, with the active participation of the private sector and the local host communities.
“Our basic aim is to have sustainable and round the year tourism for economic uplifting of the remotest areas, at the same time persevering the natural beauty of Uttarakhand,” Amrita Rawat, Uttrakhand Tourism Minister stated recently while addressing a seminar on ‘Sustainable Tourism Environment and Infrastructure’ in Srinagar.
Moreover, ‘Home Stay in Villages’ is also being developed. “To provide better facilities for stay on trek routes, the state government recently launched a scheme for the local community to modify/furnish their houses for tourists thus crating employment for them,” the official said.
According to the latest available statistics, domestic tourist visits in the state increased from 1.9 crores in 2007 to 2.66 crores in the year 2011 (representing 4.1 per cent of domestic tourist visits in India) whereas foreign tourist visits increased from 96,000 in 2007 to 1.14 lakh in the year 2011. Uttrakhand Tourism recently received the CNBC Tourism Award in the category ‘Best Mountain/Hill destination in India – Kumaon Hills. The award was received by Rawat.
