Heritage Tourism Affiliation (HHA) of Gujarat, in session with the state tourism division, has rolled out 6 completely different thematic itineraries of the state underneath the ‘Pahle Dekho Gujarat’ marketing campaign. The itineraries designed after in-depth deliberations and discussions amongst skilled stakeholders and energetic participation of FTOs had been launched at a B2B journey exhibition of boutique motels known as Très 2025 in Delhi final week.
In keeping with HHA management, these curated itineraries are underneath themes like Historic treasures of Gujarat, Royal Gujarat, Wild Gujarat, Artisanal Gujarat, Tribal Cultures & Traditions of Gujarat, and Vegan Gujarat and comprise excursions of period from 9 nights/10 days to a fortnight. Whereas India had round 520 princely states on the time of independence, Gujarat alone had over 220 of them, and these itineraries cowl all these heritages. A London-based traveller travelled the size and breadth of the state earlier than curating these itineraries, and knowledgeable prime management of HHA.
Current on the launch of those distinctive itineraries, Rajendera Kumar, senior bureaucrat who heads tourism, civil aviation, devasthanam administration, industries and mines as secretary in Gujarat, stated that the state has a 360-degree method to tourism growth and needed to make use of tourism as a significant software for each employment creation and heritage conservation.
He stated that the main target was in direction of creating and selling new iconic locations and preserving the normal merchandise and locations.
The 2 iconic locations which have already established their locations are the Rann of Kutch and the Statue of Unity. Rann Utsav this 12 months had file footfalls of over 1 million guests, Kumar stated. “It’s a CAGR development of 45 per cent,” he knowledgeable. Rann Utsav this 12 months was fully plastic free and introduced a sustainable mannequin regardless of the file footfall, he knowledgeable.
Equally, the Statue of Unity, one other iconic website, had over 5 million guests, he claimed. State tourism can be within the strategy of creating just a few different websites related to archaeology, heritage and journey of the state into iconic locations standing.
Dharoi, a dam website on the Aravalis between Ahmedabad and Udaipur, is one such website that the state is creating right into a world-class journey vacation spot. Kumar stated that the state is creating the trunk infrastructure in order that the non-public traders can come and spend money on creating an journey tourism ecosystem round it.
“Will probably be a considered one of its sort journey tourism vacation spot within the nation. We’ve the identical technique and plan as within the Statue of Unity at Dharoi,” stated Kumar. He stated that the state has already invested over Rs 800 cr within the trunk infrastructure.
Lothal Nationwide Maritime Museum is one other main iconic vacation spot growth that Gujarat tourism is pinning excessive hopes on. The Lothal maritime museum complicated, which can home the world’s tallest Lighthouse Museum, Asia’s largest underwater marine museum and India’s grandest naval museum, is predicted to be prepared by September this 12 months and shall be a giant draw. A central authorities undertaking, the complicated is constructed at an estimated value of Rs 4,500 cr.
The Vadnagar Experiential Museum, which was devoted to the nation early this 12 months,r has many distinctions and is finest in school among the many world’s archaeological museums, Kumar stated.
Dholavira, a UNESCO World Heritage website and Nadabet, a border put up on the India-Pakistan border, are additionally being developed to the standing of iconic websites by enhancing connectivity and accessibility, Kumar stated.
“Efforts are being made to create new core and trunk infrastructure, together with airports and heliports in excessive footfall locations like Ambaji, Somnath and Dwarka,” he stated.
On wildlife tourism, Gujarat has unparalleled treasures in Gir, Little Rann of Kutch, Jamnagar, and many others. Narara Marine Pure Park in Jamnagar is considered one of its sort marine parks within the nation and in the entire world. Gir is the one place on the planet the place Asiatic lions are discovered within the wild. The Blackbuck Nationwide Sanctuary in Bhavnagar, the wolf breeding and rehabilitation centre in Nadabet, are distinctive to Gujarat, Kumar stated.
He additionally spoke in regards to the first and solely blue flag seaside in India at Shivrajpur, which may present an unparalleled seaside expertise to folks, making Gujarat a 360-degree vacation spot.
