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Punjab inks MoU with UNWTO to prepare tourism master plan of state |
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Written by Satinder Bains,Punjabnewsline, Chandigarh
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Friday, 11 January 2008 |
 The Punjab government Friday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for the formulation of a Tourism Development Master Plan for the State. Principal Secretary Tourism Ms. Geetika Kalha and Executive Director of UNWTO Harsh Verma signed on the behalf of the Punjab Government and World Tourism Organisation respectively in the presence of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
Speaking on the occasion Badal said that it was a historic day when the state government had signed a MoU with WTO to prepare a blue print of Tourism plan in the state. Mr. Badal pointed out that the Punjab had a tremendous tourism potential which needed to be tapped optimally.
He said that the state government had identified tourism as one of the major economic sectors of the State and was committed to achieve a high degree of sustainable development with optimum utilization of a rich and wide variety of tourism resources. As a result, the State Government had entered into an agreement with the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a specialized agency of the United Nations and the leading international organization in the field of tourism, to formulate a Tourism Development Master Plan for the State, said Mr. Badal.
Explaining the details of the project Harsh Verma, Executive Director of UNWTO informed that this Tourism Development Plan would be prepared for next 15 years i.e. 2008-23, which would define Tourism policy and strategy, identify tourism products and services and develop these in a persisting manner besides, a five-years marketing action programme, two pilot demonstration projects and a training programme on destination development & management would also be chalked out. The project would also include series of initiatives to bring together the tourism private sector and the Government to realize its full potential, said Mr. Verma.
He said that Punjab's tourism resources cover an extensive range: religious, heritage/cultural, natural, medical and commercial. When combined with a very warm and hospitable people and a wide variety of folklore, these resources provide Punjab with an outstanding opportunity to develop and sustain a major and diversified tourism sector with resultant economic and social benefits for the people of the State.
As the birthplace of Sikhism, visitor flows are dominated by Sikhs- from within the State, elsewhere in India and from the estimated 10 million strong Sikh diaspora around the world. They are drawn by devotion to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, the many other Gurdwaras around the State, and on pilgrimage routes such as to the site of the first guru's enlightenment at Sultanpur Lodhi.
Verma stated that the waterways of Punjab are the lifeblood of the State providing irrigation to vast tracts of farm land. The rivers- the Beas, the Satluj and the Kanjli- along with the extensive canal system serve to attract large colonies of migratory birds in the winter (in particular at the wetland of Harike, Kanjli and Ropar wetlands). The natural beauty of the areas created by the Ranjit Sagar Dam and Talwara Lake (Pong Dam) offers strong prima facie opportunity for the development of an upscale resort, a wide range of boating opportunities and ecotourism activities.
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