Popular tourism sites will be developed into iconic destinations, reveals tourism minister

Some of the most prominent tourism destinations in India, including the Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Kaziranga National Park, and the Somnath Temple will soon be developed into “iconic” tourist spots, the government informed the parliament on Monday.
KJ Alphons, the Minister of Tourism, brought to the notice of the Lok Sabha the fact that an announcement on this tourism related plan was made at the Budget of financial year 2018-19.

He said that the destinations that the ministry has identified for development are based on "footfall, regional distribution, potential for development, and ease of implementation".
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The major tourism sites that have been identified for development include popular destinations like Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri in Uttar Pradesh; Humayun’s Tomb, Qutub Minar, and Red Fort in Delhi; Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra; and Colva Beach in Goa among other places.

Some of the other places that have been identified for the tourism development project include Amber Fort in Rajasthan, Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh, Somnath and Dholavira in Gujarat, Hampi in Karnataka, Kaziranga in Assam, Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar, and Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.

The tourism minister further revealed that all of the above mentioned destinations would be developed under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.

For turning these places into “iconic tourist destinations”, some of the key areas that the government plans to focus on are infrastructure and skill development, development of technology, attracting private investment, branding, and marketing.

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