Press Release
Rajasthan has a bounty of tourism opportunities to showcase to the world. It is important to plan how art, culture, and traditions of Rajasthan can be promoted to attract tourists globally. To ensure safety for the incoming tourists, a law has passed to provide for strict action against touts and anti-social elements who harass tourists. Repeated offences have been made cognisable and non-bailable. Rural tourism is very significant to showcase Rajasthan’s traditions, culture, and way of living to the tourists. A mobile app is also being developed by the Department to help tourists gain information about the State. This was stated by Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Shri Govind Singh Dotasra. He was addressing ‘Rajasthan Calling – A Virtual Roadshow’ to ‘Move Rajasthan Up The Domestic Tourism Value Chain’ organised by Rajasthan Tourism and FICCI Rajasthan State Council as the Chief Guest. The programme was moderated by Head, FICCI Rajasthan State Council, Mr Atul Sharma.
Principal Secretary – Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Smt Gayatri Rathore said that wellness tourism is being promoted in a big way to give a boost to the industry in Rajasthan. Marketing and promotional activities will pick up aggressively in the coming month. Many activities and new schemes are in the pipeline to put Rajasthan back on the global tourism market in the coming 6 months. A 5-day Shekhawati Festival has been proposed for December-January. Similarly, Great Indian Travel Bazaar (GITB) in association with FICCI in March-April and Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart in association with Federation of Hospitality and Tourism of Rajasthan (FHTR) in March are also in the offing.
Director – Tourism, Government of Rajasthan, Shri Nishant Jain said that there is a need to focus on lesser-known destinations like Alwar, Shekhawati, Banswara, Kota, Bundi, etc. in marketing campaigns. Adventure tourism has huge scope in Rajasthan and few activities have already begun. This needs to be communicated to the tour operators.
Co-Chairman, FICCI Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Committee, Mr Dipak Deva said that 70 per cent tourism traffic is between Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur. There is a need to increase the spread of tourists across the States of Rajasthan to avoid over-tourism. Rajasthan should promote workcations as ‘Work from Rajasthan’ as people want to live, work and travel in one go.
President, Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), Mr P P Khanna said that innovative tourism packages with a focus on lesser-known destinations in village areas and experiential tourism needs to be introduced.
Co-Chairman, FICCI Rajasthan State Council & CMD, Mandawa Hotels, Shri Randhir Vikram Singh said that Rajasthan should be promoted through electronic mediums and social media.
Panel Discussion – ‘Moving Rajasthan Up the Domestic Tourism Value Chain’
The inaugural session was followed by a panel discussion on ‘Moving Rajasthan Up the Domestic Tourism Value Chain’. Panellists included Chairman, FICCI UP Tourism Committee, Shri Prateek Hira; Chairman, ADTOI Gujarat Chapter, Shri Ashok Dhoot; Chairman, IATO West Bengal Chapter, Shri Debjit Dutta; Chairman, ADTOI Maharashtra Chapter, Shri Dharmendra Singh Chauhan and Chairman, IATO Karnataka Chapter, Shri S Mahalingaiah. Discussions were held on starting border tourism, skill development for grassroots stakeholders, rationalized rates for trains and monuments and reviewing the resources left post-pandemic.