By IANS
Jaipur : The department of tourism of Rajasthan has been geared up to hard sell the state to tourists as their most preferred destination in the country during the upcoming ‘Rajasthan Resurgent summit’.
The two-day summit organised by the state government will be held here Nov 30 and Dec 1.
“In our presentation to the delegates, we will focus on the tourism infrastructure that is already in place in the state and the new projects that are being undertaken to further strengthen the tourism infrastructure,” said Usha Punia, Rajasthan’s minister of state for tourism.
The minister informed mediapersons that foreign tourists’ inflow in the state has seen a quantum jump from 428,000 in 2002 to 1.2 million in 2006.
Domestic tourists also have leapfrogged from 8.3 million in 2002 to 23.4 million in 2006. The state’s tourism infrastructure also is going from strength to strength, the minister said.
Punia said the five national highways in the state are all four-laned or six-laned, and the state also has five mega highways and an extensive railway network.
As for air connectivity, the minister said, Jaipur would have a new international terminal building by July 2008. The runway will be extended from 9,000 ft to 11,500 ft.
The Udaipur airport would become the second international airport of Rajasthan by January next year, and its runway would be extended up to 9,000 ft, she said.
All major airlines are already operating within the state and survey for a new airport at Kota has already started. A new green-field airport would be located at Kishangarh, the minister said.
At present Rajasthan has 14 airstrips for leasing and a civil aviation corporation has been set up.
The summit will provide a forum for meetings between state government, leading entrepreneurs and leading companies from Rajasthan. Informative workshops and business sessions will be special features of the event.
Memoranda of Understanding with companies are expected to be signed during the summit to enable them to launch or strengthen their businesses in the state.