Tourism Dept splurges on dud shows in North Eastern

Hyderabad: In a brazen approach, the Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) has been conducting road shows in the North-Eastern parts of the country for the last few months spending a huge money at a time though it is bereft of even brochures to hand out to tourists.

• Less than one per cent of the domestic arrivals are from the north-eastern states
• The officials of the department have so far held five road shows in the North-East States and spent a huge money
• The tourist offices do not even have enough brochures and there has been no printing since the formation of the State
• But their efforts to promote medical tourism too have comer a cropper

Till date five road shows had been organised starting with Gangtok, Kolkata, Guwahati, Shillong and Aizawl and in each road show about six officials, including the Managing Director, Secretary and Chairman were in attendance. According to reliable sources, close to Rs 40 lakhs was spent for the road shows but they failed to elicit any enquiries so far.

If historical data is any indication, not even one per cent of tourists come to Telangana State from the seven north-eastern states. For instance, in 2015, out of the 94,51,6316 domestic tourists there could be just a handful from the north-east, said an official on condition of anonymity. He, however, added that there are a sizable number of tourists from West Bengal, but none from the seven sisters.

The same is the case in 2016 too. Out of the 71,46,0830 domestic tourist arrivals, there could be just a hundred or so as some students from the north-east are in in the universities in Telangana State. A senior official admitted that the strategy of holding road shows in the north-east is a waste of time and money.

A visit to Yatri Nivas tourist reservation counter at Secunderabad proved to be an eye-opener as there are not enough brochures. A staffer said that since the formation of Telangana State not once did the department print brochures. An official at the Department of Tourism who did not want to be named said it would taken even more time now as there are 31 districts now and a new set of brochures cannot be expected anytime soon.

Most tourists who come to Telangana State are from Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and if road shows were conducted in those States, it would have made sense, admitted an official. The department plans to promote medical tourism, but it is much easier for people from the north-east to go to Kolkata than come to Hyderabad.

Arvind, a travel agent, said, “There are no direct flights to the North-East, one has to either go to Bagdogra or Kolkata first and it is even more difficult by train as it would take two to three days.” Moreover, there are no train services to some States such as Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

By T P Venu