Steena Joy – Ahmedabad
Gujarat Tourism is focusing on festivals and events to bring in the tourists. The 10-day-long carnival of Navaratri which ended in October, attracts a lot of international tourists. This year’s Navaratri Mahotsav which was held at the GMDC Grounds in Ahmedabad was opened by Vijay Rupani, chief minister of Gujarat. Nitin Patel, deputy chief minister of Gujarat; Ganpatsinh Vasava, minister of tourism and Kamlesh Patel, chairman, Gujarat Tourism, were also present.
Kamlesh Patel said that event based tourism attractions like Navaratri Mahotsav, Rann Utsav, International Kite Festival were garnering a lot of international attention. He stated, “Taking these events to the international level was Prime Minister Modi’s idea. The Navaratri Mahotsav had a lot of new additions this year like a Food Court, stalls and Theme Pavilions.”
Ambassadors of nearly 20 countries were present at the inauguration. There are nearly 16,000 Navaratri mandals in the city alone and they are expected to earn more than Rs 100 crore in revenues. The state expects eight to 12 lakh tourists to visit during the festival.
Speaking to the media, S Haider, secretary, Gujarat Tourism, said, “In Gujarat we celebrate Navaratri with a lot of devotion and festivity. Interestingly, the 10 day dance festival has also carved a niche for itself all over the world.”
He added that the state had a very investor friendly tourism policy with capital and interest subsidies and a lot of incentives. “Our focus is on multi-faceted development – heritage, spiritual, eco tourism, wildlife, healthcare and cruises. We want to promote sustainable and inclusive growth. Environmentally sustainable tourism will give a boost to the local economy and job generation. During Vibrant Gujarat, 125 projects were registered online with a Rs 5,000 crore investment potential. Many of these are on ground already, many have been already implemented,” he said.