Kolkata: West Bengal has turned tourist hot spot for visitors both local and from foreign shores.
As per the data released by the Central Ministry of Tourism, more than seven million tourists travelled from other Indian states to West Bengal for a holiday, while the state attracted more than 1.5 million foreign tourists, making it the fifth-most travelled state in India this year.
Rajasthan, known from its palaces, ranked sixth and Kerala, which sees an influx of foreigners every year, ranked seven on the list. Karnataka and Goa were ranked ninth and tenth respectively.
Tamil Nadu topped the list as the most-visited state, closely followed by Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
According to state government officials, a lot of effort has been put into rebranding the state, and it’s got a new logo and tagline. The campaign — Experience Bengal The Sweetest Part of India — was well promoted with hoardings and road shows all over the country.
“We had been conducting road shows all over India with hoardings in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and even in two-tier cities like Ahmadabad, Surat, Coimbatore and Chandigarh. Most of the people were willing to see Bengal but it was not promoted,” said Ajit Ranjan Bardhan, secretary department of Tourism.
Officials say places of interest — Darjeeling, Shantiniketan, Sundarbans — have always been around, just not promoted properly.
Taking the campaign to a larger scale, new sets of artworks for print and outdoor mediums have been created and the department has entered into tie-ups with several multiplexes, going so far as to rope in Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador. Efforts are also on to make the official website of the department clutter-free, visually appealing and contemporary. A budget of Rs2.57 billion (Dh141 million) was allocated to the Tourist Department in 2015-16. The budget for tourism was a meagre Rs4.4 million in 2011-12.
West Bengal is also being promoted differently in different states. “While people of Maharashtra prefer to visit the temples in Bengal, for the people of Tamil Nadu the adventures in Darjeeling and Sundarbans are more sought after. The whole advertising process has been well targeted,” said an official of the department. The state is also being promoted on various FM radio stations across the country.
The state is also branding itself as the place of St. Teresa after the canonisation last week as many believe that after sainthood more people, especially foreigners, will visit the city. “After Sunday’s canonisation, more people both from within India and abroad will like to see the place related to Mother Teresa. We are planning to make arrangements for them so that they have a great experience here,” Tourism Minister Gautam Deb.
Places in the city closely associated with Mother Teresa include Mother House, where she lived in Kolkata, her various homes and the church she attended in Darjeeling in the 1950s.
“These places closely related to St. Teresa’s life and her works would be put on the state tourism website to help tourists have an idea about them and they can pre-plan their itinerary,” the minister said.
