Ashwani Sekhri

The state of Punjab has a slew of aggressive plans lined up for the year ahead. Beginning with the formulation of a new state tourism policy. Revealed captain Amarinder Singh, chief minister of Punjab, “We plan to bring out the new policy with number of changes, that would help hoteliers and those related to tourism enhance their business transactions. We are also gearing up to make Punjab a preferred tourist destination by focussing on the three-key aspects of the state - religion, heritage and leisure.”

These heartening plans were disclosed at the recently concluded conclave on ‘Strategies for Integrated Tourism Development in Northern India - Destination Amritsar’ held at Amritsar.

The minister further added that religion plays an important role and has great potential, on account of a large number of shrines associated with Sikh history, Hinduism, and other religions. There are also a number of pilgrim locations, fairs and festivals, historical and archeological sites that could contribute to the religious aspect. Further releasing a concept paper on Integrated Tourism and Aviation Development - Destination Punjab, prepared by the Institute of Tourism and Future Management (ITFM), Chandigarh, the minister stated that a survey should be conducted prior to putting tourism and aviation plans in place. This survey could be done to assess the tourism potential, people’s perceptions and existing infrastructure, with an aim to generate direct and indirect employment for the educated youth.

Elaborating further Ashwani Sekhri, minister of industries, tourism and cultural affairs, Punjab mentioned that this was the first-ever conclave for tourism promotion held in Amritsar. Tourism in Punjab definitely needs to gear up, which will in turn help increase employment and generate more revenue for the state. So, it has to be considered as priority. The first step in this direction is to declare the Golden Temple, a World Heritage Site. We have already submitted the requisite papers to ministry of tourism, government of India and have also sent the papers to UNESCO.

Urging Punjab to consider the international arena, M P Bezbaruah, former secretary tourism, MoT, government of India said that Punjab should also create its own brand image.