Press Release
“The Covid-19 Pandemic has caused a major setback to the tourism sector. All the stakeholders of the tourism industry should work in tandem to overcome these challenging times. The recently announced INR 500 crores budget under the Tourism Development Fund of the State will indeed go a long way in reviving tourism in the state by building infrastructure and development of new tourism spots. INR 200 crore of this budget has been set aside for marketing and promotion. This was stated by the Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Shri Govind Singh Dotasra. He was speaking at a webinar on ‘Rajasthan Tourism: Opportunities & Way Forward’ organized by Rajasthan Tourism, in association with FICCI Rajasthan State Council.
The Minister further said that the rich culture, tradition and heritage of Rajasthan should be used to attract tourists in the form of ‘Rural Tourism’. This should also be highlighted through the use of social media. Giving the example of the recently held Shekhawati Festival, he said that the Shekhawati region has numerous tourist attractions like Salasar Balaji and Khatu Shyam Ji temples as well as many forts and step wells. This area will be developed as a tourism circuit. Shri Dotasra also emphasized the need for the safety of tourists as well as cleanliness in the state to be the foremost priority for promoting tourism.
Highlighting the urgent need for the vaccination of the workers in the hospitality industry, Chairperson, FICCI Travel, Tourism and Hospitality; Committee and CMD, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, Dr. Jyotsna Suri said that the recent surge in Covid-19 has again weakened the tourism sector and domestic tourism will be the area of focus for the next two years. She appealed to the Minister that the hotel and restaurant staff should be treated as frontline workers and their vaccination should be an immediate concern.
Director – Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Shri Nishant Jain in his addressed shared that Rural Tourism is a priority segment in tourism policy and has been given due importance. He appreciated the efforts of FICCI in organizing such webinars that help the various stakeholders of the industry to come together and discuss important issues being faced by them.
Co-Chairman, FICCI Rajasthan State, Council & President, IHHA, Shri Randhir Vikram Singh said that domestic tourism holds the key and Rajasthan has all the required ingredients to unleash the vast potential of the sector. The state is already leading in the area of Wedding Tourism, and new avenues of tourism like wellness tourism, experiential tourism and the role of startups in promoting tourism should be explored.
President, HRAR & RATO, Shri Kuldeep Singh Chandela said that tourism fraternity thank Hon’ble Chief Minister for allocation of INR 500 Crore to the tourism sector and it will facilitate holistic promotion of the tourism industry. He also reiterated the demand of industry status to tourism sector.