Uttarakhand Tourism and Culture minister Amrita Rawat participated in the programme chaired by Minister of State for Tourism K Chiranjeevi along with State Tourism ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir during which the "777 days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas" campaign was launched to publicise the tourism potential of Himalayas.
The aim of the campaign launched in New Delhi is to promote this tourist destination internationally. Rawat said that 90 per cent of the popular tourist destinations like Mussoorie, Nainital, Rishikesh and Haridwar have not been affected in the June disaster and are safe for tourists.
She said that only 10 per cent tourist places en route to the Char Dham shrines have been affected due to the disaster. However, due to adverse media reports, the tourism flow in the entire State has been affected due to negative perception in public and industry, she said. The Uttrakhand Government will construct 14 km long ropeway for connecting Kedarnath shrine, said Uttarakhand Tourism Secretary Umakant Panwar while making a presentation at the function.
He said that the Yatra to Char Dham shrines will be opened for pilgrimage in the next few days. He said that the Badrinath pilgrimage will be opened to public in next 10 days while Kedarnath Yatra will also be opened in a week. He added that winter Char Dham Yatra will be made regular feature in the State, so that the maximum number of people could visit shrines around the year.
He said that the State Govt will waive the fee charged for scaling various peaks in the State in order to promote adventure tourism in the State. The State has total of 83 peaks including the world highest pass Mana Pass. The State government has decided to involve private sector in a big way to strengthen the tourism infrastructure on Public Private Partnership mode.
Around Rs 5,000 crore would be spend on developing tourism infrastructure in Uttarakhand in the State in next five years to create world class facilities for the visiting tourists.