A high level team comprising two Secretary level officials on Sunday flew to Hong Kong on a “brand Bihar mission” to participate in a four-day conference on tourism commencing from September 12. The team comprising secretaries of tourism and public relations department R S Tiwari and Vivek Kumar Singh respectively left for Kolkata en-route to Hong Kong to participate in the conference to woo the tourists to Bihar particularly to Nalanda and Gaya districts, the seat of Buddhism.

Before leaving for Hong Kong, Singh said the meet had been organised by Union Tourism Ministry and we are part of the meet on “brand Bihar mission” coinciding with 2550th anniversary of Lord Budha's “parinirvana” at Bodh Gaya. “Since Bihar is the seat of Buddhism the state government decided to send a team to Hong Kong on brand Bihar mission to woo the tourists”, he said.

The NDA government after according the status of industry to tourism has decided to develop the places of historical and religious sites in a big way and hardsell its glorious traditions, cultural heritage, popular festivals, fairs and natural beauty to outside world, sources in Tourism Department said.

In order to woo the foreign tourists, the department has also introduced an online booking facility for outside tourists through credit cards. The department is also contemplating to introduce air taxis on the Buddhist circuits, the sources said.

Posted by Ajit Chouhan on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 at 6:08 PM | Permalink