State’s tourism dept officials talk about preparations for upcoming Rannotsav in Kutch from December 1.
In a move aimed to give strong fillip to tourism sector, the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) has decided to develop tourism on a 'hub and spoke' model — making a major city with urban infrastructure and facilities a base camp for tourists to visit about 30 destinations in the vicinity.
At the outset, eight ‘hubs’ have been identified, and development on these lines have been initiated since last six months. Advertisements and online promotions have begun with gusto. Jamnagar, Kutch Junagadh, A'bad-North Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Surat and Vaodara are the said hubs to begin with. Talking about the success of the model, chairman of TCGL Kamlesh Patel said, "We are offering a basket of destinations to tourists visiting Gujarat instead of selling just one destination. There is a lot of competition in tourism sector now, and we have geared up to face the challenge."
Details of the hubs and the destinations attached to them have been put up on the website.
In a press meet organized to share the details of the upcoming Rannotsav in Kutch from December 1, the officials of tourism department shared their enthusiastic plans for the department and highlighted the sharp increase in tourists and the rising revenue graph of TCGL over the past three years.
Managing director TCGL Anoop Shukla said the hub model has been such a success in the past few months that even the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh is keen on adopting the model. "We dont have too many big attractions, only small spots where a person cannot spend more than a few hours. Instead we have lots of lovely beaches, which are also being developed. So we are developing multiple destinations giving the tourist a wide choice," he said.
Elaborating on the Rannotsav celebrations, secretary tourism Vipul Mitra said all of the 400 tents put up for the festival have been booked this time, emphasizing on a lighter note that those travelling are genuine tourists. "Ambassador of 12 countries are expected to attend the event. Around one lakh people will gather in the Rann for the festival. The Rann of Kutch is kind of like the deserts of Jaisalmer, but much easier to reach, but still we do not get as many tourists as Jaisalmer. In a few years, we aim to get more tourists than Jaisalmer to this beautiful destination," he said.
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