A ropeway to Kedarnath shrine has been sanctioned and work on constructing it will begin soon.” Said Rakesh Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary while addressing in a day long seminar titled Tourism in Uttarakhand: Starting Afresh, which was by Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) in collaboration with GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit) in Dehradun on Friday.
He further said that the Government and industry will have to work together to rehabilitate the State. The current priority is reconstruction efforts, but all suggestions by the industry will be taken and worked on. Soon the State Cabinet will decide on measures to help industry, including taxation issues. Rajeev Bhartari, CCF (Eco-tourism), said, “Uttarakhand will be promoted as a destination for soft adventure tourism. We are organising a three-day bird watching workshop at Assan Barrage on February 7-9. The workshop will attract bird watchers from around the world.”
Jairaj, Additional PCCF, Forest Department reiterated that all the support to the tour operators for promotion of eco-tourism in Uttarakhand. Subroto Roy, Programme Manager, GIZ stated that GIZ was making all possible efforts to promote responsible tourism in Uttarakhand and the State would be represented in the world’s largest travel show — ITB Berlin in 2014. This programme will followed by a series of safety workshops in the State.