The West Bengal state government is going to collect data of tourist footfall at popular destinations in Kolkata, Darjeeling, Kalimpong and coastal Bengal, including other areas of tourist interest, in Bengal.
The survey will be conducted in two phases – a preliminary and a detailed one – factoring in accommodation at hotels, ticket sales at various transit points like stations, airports and bus terminals and footfall at the tourists spots through ticket sales.
The result will help the government collate “reliable and robust” tourism data. It will help formulate policies and augment infrastruct-ure to promote the state as a tourism destination. The survey will take into account both domestic and forei-gn tourists.
“The survey will be carried out at popular destinations across districts, including Kolkata, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, coastal Bengal, the Jangalmahal and the forest areas to understand the number of tourists visiting these places, the average spending, main attractions and their feedback on the amenities that already exist,” said an official of the tourism department.
The Minister informed that the final meeting of the G20 Tourism Working Group will contribute actionable points and recommendations for national and international governments, as well as other stakeholders in the tourism industry, to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. He also spoke about the Goa Roadmap and government’s efforts to encourage and enhance cruise tourism.
A one-month preliminary survey will be followed by another spanning over a year. The preliminary survey will provide the major destinations across the state and visitor numbers at these places while the second phase will provide detailed data on the duration of stay, average spending, footfall at different parts of the year and feedback of the tourists on the existing amenities.”The data will help us adopt a very focused and destination-specific approach in developing infrastructure, formulate relevant tourism policies and promote the state as a tourism hot spot more efficiently,” said the official.
The government has been actively promoting Bengal as a tourism hot spot, with the Unesco honour for Durga Puja last year coming as a shot in the arm. Similarly, it also wants to promote the mountains, coastal areas, forest and wildlife in the state to attract tourists from across the country and abroad.
“The government also wants to promote religious and cultural tourism in the state with several shrines situated here,” said the official.
