Bengal Govt to open 50 tourist information centres across Bengal

To make information to tourists easily available, the Bengal Government has decided to open as many as 50 tourist information centres across the State.

Though aimed primarily at tourists from other parts of the country as well as from across the world, the information centres would cater to tourists from the State as well. All information related to a particular area would be available at each centre. These would be run by the Tourism Department.

These tourist centres would play a major role in making Bengal more tourist-friendly. As it is, it is one of the top States in terms of tourist arrivals, both nationally and internationally. This project would take Bengal significantly higher in the rankings.

Where to stay, what to do, what to eat, what to buy, what are the specialities of a particular place or area – information of every kind would be available at these centres. Guide books would be available in English, Hindi and Bengali. They would contain detailed information about the history, geography and culture of a place.

These centres are already running at the airports in Kolkata and Bagdogra. Soon they would come up in four other places in Kolkata (Kolkata and Sealdah railway stations, Rabindra Sadan and Madhusadan Mancha), Howrah and Santragachi railway stations, Kakdwip and Diamond Harbour railway stations (South 24 Parganas district), Murshidabad, Malda, Bankura, Birbhum district, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Siliguri and other places to cover all the districts.

The information available at the centres would also help tourists to decide how and where to go next. All in all, the tourist information centres would act as one-stop centres for all tourists visiting Bengal.

Source: Sangbad Pratidin

Much better infrastructure leading to more tourist arrivals in the Sundarbans

With the infrastructure being ramped up rapidly by the Trinamool Congress Government, the number tourists visiting Sundarbans has gone up too. The region now sees many more tourists round the year, while earlier tourist arrivals peaked during certain periods only.

With better and more roads, culverts (for channelling water under roads), watchtowers, better protected areas, beach development and other work being done, the mangrove haven has become more attractive. With the hike in tourists, naturally the local economy has also improved. Better means of livelihood are making lives easier for the locals. Things like better roads and rest sheds are a boon for the local people too.

Not just betterment infrastructure, there has been improvement in the system of inclement weather alerts too, which is beneficial to tourists and locals alike.

At the same time, infrastructure for water transport has also been improved. The conditions of the river jetties have been improved. Another step taken for improvement of connectivity is the construction of bridges, linking different islands in the delta.

To draw more tourists, every year, in August and September, the State Government organises the Hilsa Festival there.

The above facts are borne out by both Government officials and tour operators. The latter expressed a lot of hope for tourism during a recent tourism fair organised by the State Government in Kolkata. Among the popular places in the Sundarbans are Gosaba Hamilton Bunglow, Pirkhali, Dobaki Watchtower, Sajnekhali Watchtower, Sudhanyakhali Watchtower among others.

Source: Millennium Post

Tourist hotspots in Bengal beckon revellers during Dol break

With massive infrastructure development undertaken in the past six years by the Mamata Banerjee government in tourism sector, tourist spots in Bengal have turned out to be ideal destinations for the four-day-long holiday in the coming week.

The holiday will start with Dol and Holi on March 1 and 2 respectively, followed by Saturday and Sunday. Visiting Santiniketan during Dol always bears a special significance. This year, there is also demand at places like Bankura, Purulia, West Midnapore and Cooch Behar. Hotel owners in tourist spots including Mukutmanipur, Ayodhya Hills and Jhargram have been getting several calls for booking.

A large number of people have also chosen Digha and Mandarmoni as their all time favourite to visit during Dol. Many are also going to visit Darjeeling and other tourist spots in north Bengal.

Soon after coming to power, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed the state tourism department to take necessary steps to ensure that Bengal comes up as the number one tourism destination across the globe.

Development of necessary infrastructure including roads, basic amenities, better lodging facilities have been carried out, besides promoting the local art forms.

 

দোলের ছুটিতে জমজমাট পশ্চিমবঙ্গ পর্যটন

এবছর দোল উপলক্ষে টানা ৪ দিন ছুটি। আর তাই ভ্রমণপ্রিয় বাঙালী পেয়ে গেছে ঘুরতে যাওয়ার আরেকটা সুযোগ। অন্যান্য রাজ্য বা বিদেশ নয় – পশ্চিমবঙ্গের বিভিন্ন পর্যটন কেন্দ্রের চাহিদাই তুঙ্গে।

২০১১ সালে ক্ষমতায় আসার পর মুখ্যমন্ত্রী মমতা বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়ের নেতৃত্বাধীন তৃণমূল কংগ্রেস সরকার রাজ্যের পর্যটন পরিকাঠামো উন্নয়নের জন্য নিয়েছে একগুচ্ছ পদক্ষেপ। তার ফলস্বরূপ, গত ছয় বছরে পর্যটনে উন্নতিও হয়েছে চোখে পড়ার মতো।

দোলের সময় শান্তিনিকেতন যাওয়ার ঝোঁক থাকে সকলেরই। কিন্তু এবছর অন্যান্য জেলাতেও – যেমন বাঁকুড়া, পুরুলিয়া, পশ্চিম মেদিনীপুর, কোচবিহার – প্রচুর মানুষ বেড়াতে যাবেন এই ছুটিতে।

মুকুটমণিপুর, অযোধ্যা পাহাড়, ঝাড়গ্রামের মত পর্যটন কেন্দ্রের হোটেল মালিকরা অসংখ্য ফোন পাচ্ছেন ওই চার দিন তাদের হোটেলে ঘর বুকিং-এর জন্য।

অনেকে আবার দীঘা-মন্দারমনিকেও বেছে নিয়েছেন এই চারদিনের ছুটির জন্য। অনেকে আবার পা বাড়িয়েছেন দার্জিলিং ও উত্তরবঙ্গের দিকে।সব মিলিয়ে দোলের ছুটি জমজমাট।