Bollywood actor and brand ambassador for West Bengal, Shah Rukh Khan, will be promoting Bengal as “the sweetest tourist destination” in an ad film by the state tourism department to attract domestic and foreign travellers. He is expected to come to Kolkata for two days by the end of October for an indoor shoot.
“We have roped in superstar Shah Rukh Khan for promoting tourist destinations in the state. West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) has set aside Rs 8 crore for the ad film, for which we have hired the reputed agency Ogilvy & Mather for Rs 75 lakh. Darjeeling, Dooars, Bolpur and the sea-side tourist destinations would be among the touchpoints,” said state tourism minister Bratya Basu at a press conference on Wednesday.
Basu said several films of at least one-minute duration would be prepared for the campaign, with the catchline ‘Experience Bengal – the sweetest part of India’.
Basu added that Shah Rukh is not charging any fees for the new ad-films. “He has said he would not take any money, but we know he is a professional actor and provisions have been made for his payment,” he said.
TMC MP and superstar of the Bengali film industry, Deepak Adhikary alias Dev, would also feature in the promotional campaign.
The minister also said the state was looking at a number of projects under the PPP model to come up with upmarket as well as budget hotels and resorts at tourist destinations.
“At Gajoldoba in Jalpaiguri district, Sterling Holiday and Resort Ltd would build a star category eco-resort while Seal Tea Export Pvt Ltd and Gangadhar Developer Pvt Ltd would put up budget category eco-resorts. Shikaria Infra Project Pvt Ltd will also build a resort on PPP model over 75 acre at Sabuj Dweep in Hooghly district. Techno India Group would build a budget category resort at Jharkhali in South-24 Parganas,” he said.