Official records recorded 10 per cent growth of tourists’ inflow to this Himalayan State this year with around 3.27 lakh tourists visiting Sikkim till October this year as against 3.5 lakh in 2007.
The figures could have risen much more if the State’s life line, National Highway 31 A was not affected due to the political disturbances in the neighbouring Darjeelings Hills over Gorkhaland issue.
However, a belated nod to an airport at Pakyong in East Sikkim, rail link up to Rangpo, the border town of Sikkim and alternative highways that is set to come up in the next few years, the connectivity issues of the border State will be addressed fully.
Pepped up with the connectivity proposals and rising tourism graph, the State Government is gearing up for bringing in more and more tourists to the State to boost its economy.
State Tourism secretary SBS Bhaduria informed that the department, in cooperation with other government agencies, have been working on a plan to build infrastructure like roads, hospitality, etc and development of human resources to further promote sectors like village tourism, hydro tourism, adventure sports, eco tourism, etc., in order to bring more and more visitors throughout the year.
Adventure sports as been identified as the major revenue grosser in the tourism sector. Events like para gliding, water rafting, mountain biking may attract high-end tourists and for that necessary infrastructure development has been planned at the identified locations across the State.
“We have already started the adventure sports like mountain biking expedition and water rafting and attracted a large number of tourists this year”, Bhaduria said, adding other adventure events would be opened for the tourists soon.
Similarly, the village and eco tourism has huge potential to become a tourist spectacle as the visitors may enjoy the facets of village life like harvesting, ethnic dress and dances and buzz of the natural surroundings, the Tourism secretary said.
Bhaduria said that the State Government has enough funds at its disposal for development of tourism-related infrastructure in the entire State. The Union Government has also been generous in making financial allocation for development of tourism in Sikkim, he said.