Referring to the fact that the ‘Heritage Arc’ of Uttar Pradesh has become more popular than the “Golden Triangle” as a tourism concept, the Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav told the travel writers from all across the world that they should write about Uttar Pradesh in a manner that it projects the correct image of the people and the state. He said that as a tourist himself he would like to read stories of the life styles of the Royalty as to where the Kings rested and the Queens spotted the moon. He told the writers that the stories should be weaved in the manner as tourist guides do where they mix the past and present to visually paint a scene before the tourist.
Emphasizing on the fact that for having a trillion dollar economy it was important to boost tourism, the Chief Minister said that tourism provided employment to many people. He said that to promote tourism it was essential to focus on our behaviour and “tehzeeb”.
Akhilesh was speaking at the Travel Writers Conclave which was organized for the first time in the state by the Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department at the Vivanta by Taj on Tuesday. Appreciating the fact that the Tourism Department was finally become alive and had done a commendable job in linking all kinds of people together the Chief Minister said that it was necessary to project that Uttar Pradesh was the land of Taj.
“Heritage Arc as a tourism concept has become more popular than the Golden Triangle. Also if one looks at the social networking sites for the past ten days then Uttar Pradesh is trending ahead” he said.
Akhilesh said that it was necessary to project the fact that Agra is in Uttar Pradesh which is the land of Taj which most of the tourists do not know. “I was always been fond of the city and my village was close to Agra. It was also close to the place where I studied later. The tourists who visit the country do not know that the monument Taj Mahal is at Agra which is in the land of Uttar Pradesh. I also find it strange when people from NOIDA do not write Uttar Pradesh on their visiting cards but mention that they are in NCR Delhi. It is important to tell these tourists that the Taj Mahal is in Uttar Pradesh” he said.
Acknowledging the fact that most of the travel writers who had gathered there had a large following the Chief Minister told them that they should write in such a manner that leaves a factual image of how the people in UP were. Telling them on how he would like to read history he said, “Every place has a history but if I visited Fatehpur Sikri I would like to know where the Queen Jodha looked at the moon. I would like to read about where the Maharajas rested, their life styles. It is interesting to see how the tourist guides spin a story with the history so much so that the picture comes alive before you” he said.
Referring to the bench which he has got installed in front of the Taj Mahal, the Chief Minister said that there are several people who get so overwhelmed by looking at the Taj that they begin to cry. “There are many people who will spend hours just looking at the Taj Mahal from the outside because of its majestic beauty which was the reason that I got the bench installed in front of it- an image which later became very popular” he added.
He said that UP was a land of several flavours ranging from Begum Akhtar to Mir Taqui Mir and also has a wide range of cuisine. “We have absorbed all suggestions which come to us not only for the city of Agra but also Mathura, Vrindavan and lucknow” he added.
Addressing the travel writers he said, ‘Through your writing the people will become aware of the luckhnawi tehzeeb and traditions. It is also important for us to realize that this is a heritage which we will pass on to coming generations” he said. He ended with some good news for the heritage lovers wherein he announced that the encroachments from the Chunar Ka Qila will be removed.
Minister Tourism OM Prakash exhorted the writers to write about the state. “The credit goes to the Chief Minister for developing the Heritage Arc which gives the idea of what one can see beyond Agra which is lucknow and Varanasi. The cultural heritage of Uttar Pardesh is better than most places in the world. There are several projects which the Chief Minister has revived and initiated for the betterment of Tourism. The Maitreya Project was revived and the State Government is currently working on the development of the rural tourism” he said.
Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan while delivering the key note address said that the Government was doing a lot for the development of tourism in the state, “The Chief Minister is very clear that there is a tremendous potential for tourism in the state . We have developed the “Heritage Arc” connecting three cities and we are also developing more. In Agra we are coming up with a Mughal Museum and the lion Safari at Etawah. We are also increasing connectivity with the lucknow Agra Expressway” he said.