Many shades of Gujarat

Hareet Shukla, Principal Secretary Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation & Pilgrimage, Government of Gujarat, shares how Gujarat has a panoply of offerings for tourists. Right from sites featuring earliest civilisations, to various heritage sites, to seaplane services and heliports being developed, it has something for everyone.

Nisha Verma

Acknowledging that the last two years have been difficult for the tourism sector, Hareet Shukla, Principal Secretary Tourism, Devasthanam Management, Civil Aviation & Pilgrimage, Government of Gujarat, says that there is a lot of hope with rapid vaccination, especially in Gujarat. “Hence, we are very well poised for recovery.”

Myriad offerings

Shukla discusses how the state is introducing products to boost tourism. “Gujarat offers a wide range of tourist attractions, including heritage history, cuisines, attire, fair festivals, and celebrations. It boasts a 660-kilometre coastline along which we are developing new places, concepts, themes, and festivals. Gujarat is also well-connected, with 19 airports, three of which are run by the state government, and we are looking for private sector partners to help us build projects. In addition, there are 42 ports and over 1.63 kilometres of motorable road. With over 6 crore tourist footfall, Gujarat’s tourism boom has outpaced the national average,” he adds.

A success story

“When Rann Utsav was initially organised in 2006, it was a grand show,” he says, citing the Kutchh Festival as an example. “It has evolved far beyond our imagination. Every year, more than five lakh people come to Kutch for the Rann Utsav,” he adds.

“The majority of visitors travel to Gujarat for business or spiritual reasons. Hotel occupancy has also increased, and we now have over 4,000 verified units and over 100 star-category hotels. In addition, we have the world’s tallest statue — Statue of Unity; the world’s only home for Asiatic lions — Gir Forest; Asia’s longest ropeway — Girnar Ropeway; India’s first UNESCO World Heritage City — Ahmedabad City; and the world’s earliest known dock and India’s first port city — Lothal, where a world-class Maritime Museum is being built. It is home to one of India’s exemplary city planning models of Indus Valley Civilisation – Dholavira. We are trying to connect those going for Rann Utsav to Dholavira, allowing them to stay and experience the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Master Plan is being developed to make it a world standard site. It is home to one of the blue flag certified beaches – Shivrajpur Beach, which we are developing to be a major tourist attraction in the next 2-3 years,” he further adds.

Policy-driven state

Gujarat, he asserted, is a policy-driven state. “Whether it’s industry or tourism, Gujarat has one of the best law and order situations, best possible infrastructure, best connections, and it’s quite friendly,” he shares.

New projects & destinations

Sharing details of some projects in development, Shukla reveals, “The first route on which Gujarat government started seaplane services was between Sabarmati and Statue of Unity. There are plans to cover Shetrunji River and Dharoi Dam. Other locations are also being explored.”

Secondly, they are also trying to promote a lot of heliports.

Shukla elaborated, “First helipad services will start from Ahmedabad. There could be joy ride concepts. In the next step, we’d develop six major heliports. Recently, we approved routes connecting major destinations—Surat-Bhavnagar, Surat-Amreli, Surat-Rajkot. Also, we are starting Ahmedabad- Bhuj connection soon.”

There is also a new concept of border tourism, for which Nadabet is being developed as a destination, similar to the Wagah Border.

PPP collaborations

Talking about the state and sector promotion plan, Shukla says, “Collaboration with the private sector is critical. Gujarat was the first state to implement a PPP policy, and we are now working hard to attract additional private investors to manage our properties and develop new projects. The new policy has a unique aspect in that if someone comes forward with a project worth more than 500 crores, the state will not only lease land to them, but will also provide them with a custom-made package.”