Maha CM calls for providing high-quality service to tourists

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday said tourists should be provided high-quality facilities so that they will become brand ambassadors of the state.

He also said if tourists become brand ambassadors there will be no need to appoint a separate brand ambassador for Maharashtra.

'''Atithi Devo Bhava' (Guest is God) is our culture and hence, if we make all the facilities available to them even foreign tourists will recommend others to visit Maharashtra,'' Thackeray said while addressing a function commemorating the World Tourism Day.

He said the tourism department remained neglected earlier.

''We are now paying attention to tourism as we have understood its importance,'' he said, adding that tourism is the mainstay of revenue for many states and countries.

Thackeray's son Aaditya Thackeray heads the Tourism department in the Shiv Sena-led MVA government.

The chief minister said the state cabinet will hold a meeting on Deccan Odyssey, a luxury tourist train.

Maharashtra tourism secretary Valsa Nair had requested the CM to conduct such a meeting with a view that tourism in the Konkan belt will get a boost.

Giving an example of an unfinished Sagrada Familia monument in Barcelona city of Spain, Thackeray stressed the need to carve a modern cave in Maharashtra like the iconic Ellora caves carved in a single rock.

Thackeray said the tourism industry faced a major setback due to the lockdown, but he praised the state tourism department for bringing new policies, schemes, and generating employment.

The CM also launched Maharashtra Tourism's revamped multilingual website and the new mobile application. According to the Tourism department, the new portal is available in nine languages namely- English, Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Telugu, French, Japanese and Spanish.

The visually appealing, the user-friendly website comprises detailed information of around 350 destinations that are theme-wise bifurcated. ''The mobile app which is of 20 MB in size is compatible on Android as well as IOS devices and user-friendly,'' the department said.

The Tourism Department also signed MoUs with the Bombay High Court and the Mumbai University, for conducting heritage walks at these heritage buildings.

With the signing of the agreements, tourists will be able to take a tour of the iconic high court building on non-working Saturdays and Sundays while Mumbai University will be open for tourists on Sundays and public holidays. Guides of TOGA (Tourist Guide Association) will conduct the heritage walks, as per the department.

At the function, the department also launched a publicity campaign with news and Youtube channels, newspapers and FM radio channels, to promote tourism at the domestic and international level. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who also attended the event, said a budget of Rs 250 crore was recently approved for the development of tourism in Maharashtra.

''We will continue to support the tourism sector in future as well,'' Pawar said.

Aaditya Thackeray said several countries and states solely run on the revenue earned from the tourism sector. "Maharashtra has everything from beautiful landscapes, beaches, valleys to pleasant meadows and there's a lot of scope for us to grow. I am sure that post COVID-19 pandemic, we will be able to show the world what Maharashtra truly is,'' he said.