Maharashtra Govt Sets Up Tourism Promotion Council

ET&T Staff - Mumbai

The government of Maharashtra is in the process of formulating a new tourism policy and the same will be finalised shortly. The state government has also set up a Tourism Promotion Council, which involves a large number of people from the travel trade under the chairmanship of Vijaysingh Mohite-Patil, Minister of Tourism, Government of Maharashtra. This was revealed by Sanjeevani Kutty, secretary (Tourism), Government of Maharashtra, at a function organised by Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) on World Tourism Day (27, September) at Hotel Marine Plaza.

A preview of Deccan Odyssey, the luxury train, which commences its second season of commercial runs this month was presented to the media at the function attended by both Vijaysingh Mohite-Patil and Suresh Shetty, Minister of State for Tourism, Government of Maharashtra.

Speaking at the function, Shetty said, "The state government has taken a policy decision to open up the tourism sector. We are looking at more private participation in setting up hotels, resorts etc. We are working towards developing good infrastructure for tourism within the next five years." Shetty further informed that the state government is looking at developing adventure sports, pilgrimage circuits, eco-tourism in Vidharbha region, as it has a number of wildlife sanctuaries and promoting Bollywood. The latter according to Kutty is also part of the plans to showcase Mumbai as a tourist destination. "Mumbai is used mostly as a gateway. Bollywood, the state-of-the-art medical facilities in the city, historical sites etc. all be effectively used to attract tourists for a longer stay in the city."

Bhushan Gagrani, managing director, MTDC, in his presentation on Deccan Odyssey stated that they had received a request from a large number of international tourists to incorporate a heritage tour of Chattrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) as part of the Deccan Odyssey package. He informed that the railway ministry had agreed to the same and a heritage tour of CST will be introduced in the forthcoming season. He also informed that from October 1 online booking facility has been set up for the train. With regards to the sluggish start witnessed by the premier tourism product of MTDC Gagrani said that they had been marketing the train aggressively and the coming season had shown a promising start with 25 per cent bookings already in place. Deccan Odyssey, a Rs 32 crore joint venture project between MTDC and Indian Railways carried a total of 496 passengers in the first season.

"Apart from our GSAs in USA, Europe and Southeast Asia, we are trying to reach out to IT companies in Pune and Bangalore to hold conferences on board the Deccan Odyssey. The conference coach and spa are unique to Deccan Odyssey and we have done a complete overhauling of the train this year since we had received complaints of wobbling during the last season," revealed Gagrani. Answering a query regarding the high tariff of Deccan Odyssey and the competition from Star Cruises, which has started cruises from Mumbai, Gagrani said, "There will be no change in tariff at present. However, we are looking at developing a separate package for the domestic tourists with reduced rates during the off season. We are also working on new routes for repeat visitors like Mumbai-Pune-Kolhapur-Shirdi and also have plans for a shorter circuit for the train. Mohite-Patil has put across the idea to the railways and hopefully these should be in place by the next season."