MP: A potpourri of experiences

Shilpa Gupta, Additional Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, shares the latest initiatives and policies for tourism promotion in the state, along with involvement of tour operators. She highlights fully vaccinated sector and better road connectiviy as the USP of the state.

Nisha Verma

Shilpa Gupta, speaking at the recent IATO convention, claimed that people involved in both direct and allied services in the tourism sector in MP are fully vaccinated, and keeping in line with the tourists’ preference to use their own vehicle, the state has excellent road conditions and connectivity. “Work has been done on infrastructure, with wayside amenities going from 80 to 96. Mass tourism has changed and people want to go to less crowded areas, for which MP is perfect. MP Tourism is developing new and unexplored destinations for the same. One example of the same is Parsili, next to Bandhavgarh, where barefoot walking experience on the sandbanks can be done by extending one night when visiting Bandhavgarh. We are developing every destination with lots of activities to meet the needs of experiential-based tourism. Today, tourism is not about ‘What to see’, but ‘What to do?’, and this is what we have been working on. Today, there are three pillars of tourism — innovation, safety and sustainability — and MP is working on all the three. Today, MP is next to Kerala in rural and responsible tourism,” she said. “Ladpura near Orchha, is one of the three villages nominated in India for rural tourism by UNWTO,” she added.

Trade first

She also mentioned that tour operators are their biggest stakeholders, and they are constantly working with associations, transporters and guides. “Today, we need to make our packages activity-filled and move towards digitalisation as tourists want to experience the destination even before going there. We should be innovative and reinvent ourselves,” she said.

Word-of-mouth publicity

Gupta shared that while traditional methods of marketing are being adopted by them as well, she isn’t happy with it and wants the visitors to be the ambassadors of the destination. “As for the private sector, since the tour operators are direct stakeholders, they can come up with better ideas to promote tourism, and we are accessible to help through requirements by the government, at policy level or for incentives. We share responsibilities and help move forward,” she said.

Of culture and spirituality

Speaking at the ‘Connecting with Culture, Heritage and Spirituality’ session at the Expo 2020, Dubai, she said that culture, heritage and spirituality are inherent strengths of MP. “MP is doing very well in everything, and these aspects create a great opportunity,” she said.

“We have adopted new practices, like looking for different circuits. For example, Dubai is very well connected to Delhi. Coming from Delhi, a traveller can visit Gwalior, where they can experience music, heritage, culture and cuisine. From there, one can go to Orchha, which has heritage palaces and has the heritage of Raja Ram as its king. From Orchha, one can go to Chanderi, which is popular for textiles (Chanderi silk) and heritage. Many films have been shot there as well. Then one can come to Indore and have a spiritual experience at the Mahakal Temple in Ujjain, Omkareshwar Temple, Maheshwar, Sailani Island, and Mandu for historical palaces. There are direct flights to Dubai from Indore,” she added.

Convergence is key

Secondly, she said that they are working in convergence with three departments — archaeology, culture and tourism. “We are lucky that our PSU is also holding all three charges. I find it very useful as we can involve all departments for events and promotion of one event,” she said.

She added, “In February, from the culture department, we have Khajuraho Mahotsav, but the tourism department is also connected with it. We are also having Rang Mahotsav and Bhopal Utsav. We are ensuring that tourists get an experience of the culture, lifestyle of the locals and their language.”

Skilling

She said that the MP Tourism Board has a skill vertical for upgrading the skills of stakeholders and ensuring that our tourists get good experience.