Akshay Kumar – Mumbai
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Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) in association with Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, Filmcity – Goregaon, has launched the long awaited Bollywood Tourism project. The package tours which will commence from January 20, 2014, will be available to domestic and international tourists. This initiative has been undertaken to increase tourism footfall and room nights in Mumbai. The Bollywood Tourism project includes three different packages – from economy to high-end. The economy package called ‘Hit’ comprises of a three-hour guided tour in Filmcity, where tourists can explore some interesting and unknown facts of Bollywood. The medium and high end package called ‘Super Hit’ and ‘Blockbuster’ respectively, will include visits to Bollywood gully, Bollywood museum, Bollywood costume gallery, Bollywood cafe to name a few. MTDC has assigned two agencies to operate the Bollywood tourism project i.e. MOS Utility for the low-end package and Travelmartindia.com for the medium and high-end packages.
“Bollywood is one of the biggest film industries in the world. We had a plan to launch Bollywood Tourism since a long time, but finally we have collaborated with Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, Filmcity – Goregaon and launched these packaged tours. With our new offering, we will take tourists to filmcity and TV show sets, where they can see live shooting and if lucky can spot film stars as well,” stated Dr Jagdish Patil, managing director, MTDC.
Speaking about popular Bollywood tours, Manoj Gursahani, chairman, Travelmartindia.com and Bollywood Tourism said, “There was always a big demand for Bollywood tours. We have been operating private tours since three years but we were waiting for this official tie-up between MTDC and Filmcity, as this would create a standardisation of Bollywood tours. We have also promoted this product at the World Tourism Mart in London which was well received by tour operators abroad.”
Meanwhile, in another important development, the governments of Maharashtra and New South Wales (NSW) have announced their further plans, after the successful completion of a year of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between them. The two states will focus more on tourism management this year.
Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister, Maharashtra said, “Tourism is an important segment for our economy. This MoU will surely help in exchange of tourists between both the states. But more than increasing tourism footfall, we will be focusing on tourism management and will learn from each other.”
