UP to have district committees to boost tourism

Lucknow:  Every district in Uttar Pradesh will now have a District Tourism and Cultural Promotion Council (DTCPC) in an effort to boost tourism.

While the process has been finalised in 69 of the 75 districts, it will take another week or so for the council to take shape in the remaining ones.

Mukesh Meshram, principal secretary, tourism, culture and religious affairs, said: “The idea behind the initiative is to stir local economies with tourism potential, and also stimulate tourists, pilgrims and investors in unexplored and untapped hotspots. Alongside, this will help in reviving dying art forms, restore locally significant places of interest besides creating jobs for the locals in their own neighbourhood.”

The Council, to be headed by the District Magistrate of the respective district, will have district tourism officer, regional tourism officer and officers of the concerned department as its members, said Meshram.

“Together, they will work to identify places of tourist attractions and draw plans with the help of experts for tourism infrastructure as per trending demands and global standards,” he said.

The Council will also launch publicity campaigns in coordination with different stakeholders from the travel and hospitality industries to attract tourists from both within the country and abroad as well as investors.

The DTCPC members will meet once every month to resolve issues related to registration, application of incentives, exemption in stamp duty, land conversion and development charges.

In addition, DTCPC will also address problems of applicants and investors.

A draft proposal in this regard was approved by the state cabinet in July.

In another initiative, the state tourism department has set various categories for selecting a tourist spot, including cultural, historical and religious importance, popular fairs and festivals, literature, food, handicrafts, artworks and so on.

“There is no dearth of destinations in UP. While big names like Ayodhya, Varanasi, Agra, Mathura and Vrindavan, Lucknow or Jhansi work as natural magnets for pilgrims and tourists, scores of smaller places can be a treat for explorers. The district level infrastructure will help the state go deeper and work at the micro level,” said Prateek Hira, head of FICCI committee on tourism.

–IANS