Need to focus on tourism sector, attract foreign tourists: Maharashtra Chief Minister

The Chief Minister said that Maharashtra ranks fifth in the country in the tourism sector despite the state having 750 km of coastline, 5 world heritage sites, 7 tiger reserves, heritage caves, and multiple forts. ”So the efforts now will be directed to explore the tourism sector in the state, which would attract people from the state to foreign tourists, which will indirectly empower the local economy and help us make a top-rated tourist state. ”

The first Maha Tourism festival, which started on May 2, concluded on Sunday, bringing over 75,000 visitors to Mahabaleshwar.

The closing event included the presence of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council Ram Shinde and Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai, Consulate General of Japan, among others. For a first, the three-day event featured maiden honey-bee tourism, laser show, drone show, floating market and other activities in Mahabaleshwar and emphasised exploring the state’s tourism potential.

Fadnavis said, “This is the same day when Maharashtra’s book village, ‘Bhilar,’ was inaugurated eight years ago. And we are happy that the first-ever Maha Tourism festival has been overwhelmed by tourists. With an investment of Rs 100 crores in the tourism sector, we can generate employment for over 10,000 people. Comparing the same investment in manufacturing, the employment generated is significantly lower. Worldwide, the most employment-generating sector is considered to be tourism.”

Fadnavis said,”The concept of ‘New Mahabaleshwar’ that aims to create a new hill station near Satara is a welcome step. And we can reach globally with the help of content creators if they capture the unique food culture and other tourist-related stories and make it scale through social media platforms. Promotion of marine tourism is also on the table by including scuba diving, underwater coral, and submarine tourism after sinking the retired ship INS Gulzar.”

At the event, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “Since the construction of Koyna Dam, there had been a prohibition on water adventure sports, but a special committee formed under me and then home minister Devendra Fadnavis, has given permission for the said sports.”

“We have a real natural treasure in our state. The purest form of honey and strawberry is obtained at the Manghar Honey Village and Mahaabaleshwar, respectively. This is the first time that various activities such as a floating market similar to Dal Lake, paragliding, laser light shows, drone shows, boat riding on Venna Lake, and others were enjoyed by tourists in Mahabaleshwar. And to further promote this sector, we would emphasise factors such as agro-tourism, jungle safaris, medical tourism, spiritual tourism, and cruise and caravan tourism, among others,” explained Shinde.

“Taking the safety of tourists into account, we have inaugurated the Maharashtra Tourists Security Force, which would have quick response teams and advanced technology usage, such as CCTV cameras. Now, tourists can safely enjoy tourist spots across Maharashtra, and we will be doing the next Maha Tourism festival at Koyna backwaters, which stretches until Patan,” Shinde added.

Ram Shinde, chairman of the Maharashtra Legislative Council, said, “The State’s long-term vision in expanding the tourism sector is acknowledged globally too, as we have been joined by the Consulate General of Japan. This way we would attract global tourists too.”

“We were anxious organising this event as it was a maiden attempt, but our team has successfully made it happen. The response was overwhelming, with over 75,000 tourists visiting the Maha Tourism festival this year. And with this, we would be doing five such festivals in various revenue divisions, such as in Kokan, Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Khandesh every year,” said Shambhuraj Desai, Tourism Minister.

“There is tremendous potential in the Tourism sector, considering Maharashtra, and such festivals promote tourist locations. To start any tourist spot, one used to need Environmental clearance, permissions from the tourism ministry, forest department, eco-sensitive zone department and others, but with MTDC’s initiative, the permission was given in a seamless single window system,” added Desai.

Tourists also enjoyed a Maharashtrian-style carnival parade, which is usually experienced only in Goa. An exhibition of over 1200 weapons of the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj era was also on display. Moreover, women-led ‘Khadya Jatra’ included different Maharashtrian delicacies that ranged from kokum to khandesh.