Guwahati: Assam tourism industry has grown at very fast pace in last one year and succeeded in doubling the revenue collections, said Assam tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Admitting that the industry has potential to grow further, Mr Sarma said that his government has also decided to augment the tourism budget of the state and this year an amount of Rs 89 crore has been earmarked for the current financial year.
While releasing the annual achievement report 2017-18 of the Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), Mr Sarma pointed out that with earnings estimated at Rs 4.22 crore in 2017-18, the revenue collection of the state’s tourism development agency has almost doubled when compared to the earnings in 2016-17 when it amassed a revenue of 2.24 crore.
“The inflow of domestic and foreign tourists has gone up significantly and the occupancy of hotels, even in the off-season, has increased by about 20 per cent. It is evident that the flow of tourists to Assam has increased by 20 per cent in the last one year,” said Mr Sarma.
He informed that the state government is trying hard to get another externally-aided World Bank project under which the state may get a major boost of Rs 730 crore for tourism development in the state.
The tourism minister said that the overall development of tourism infrastructure around the tourist hotspots of the state will be the thrust area of the project, if it gets cleared.
