Former Indian cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly will visit Tripura on December 11 to formally sign an agreement with the Tripura Tourism Department for becoming its brand ambassador, a senior minister said. The former BCCI president will also shoot a few tourism promotional videos at iconic monuments in the state on December 12.
“Ganguly is scheduled to arrive in Tripura around 6 pm on Monday (December 11). From the Maharaja Bir Bikram Airport, he will go to Ujjayanta Palace, where an agreement for making him the brand ambassador of state tourism will be signed,” Tourism Minister Sushanta Chowdhury told reporters on December 10.
Ganguly will meet Chief Minister Manik Saha at his official residence and shoot promotional videos at Chhabimura, a rock sculpture on the banks of the Gomti River, and the iconic Ujjayanta Palace, a symbol of the Manikya dynasty, on Tuesday, before leaving the state, Chowdhury said.
The policy aims to ensure basic infrastructure at all tourist spots, encouraging public and private participation in the adoption scheme of monuments, tourism minister HK Patil said. It also aims at ending inter-department disputes of both Union and state governments, as well as differences existing among various stakeholders, historians and officials associated with the promotion of tourism activities.
“Ganguly’s appointment as Tripura tourism’s brand ambassador will have a positive impact on the state’s strive for sustainable development through tourism,” the minister said. Ganguly had earlier verbally agreed to become the brand ambassador of Tripura tourism.
The state government is expected to spend INR 350 crore to develop tourism destinations such as Neer Mahal, Unakoti archaeological site, Chhabimura, Dumber Lake and Tripureswari Temple under various schemes of the Ministry of Tourism and Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Under Swadesh Darshan, the Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned INR 70 crore each for the development of tourism circuits in Agartala and Unakoti, while the ADB has sanctioned INR 58 crore for the development of tourism in Chhabimura.
