This Indian state pays you to visit it
The Uttarakhand tourism department will provide discount coupons to tourists who check in to hotels and homestays across the state. This pilot project, aimed at improving tourism in the picturesque Himalayan state, comes with a ‘Tourist Incentive Coupon’ worth Rs 1,000, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj has said.
The offer, which will come into effect in the next few days, will be applicable to tourists who make e-bookings for a three-day stay in hotels or homestays in the state, Conde Nast Traveller reports.
“The tourists will be given the discount coupon while registering themselves on the government portal under tourist category. They will then be able to use the coupon during their stay in a hotel or homestay in the tourist spots of the state,” said Maharaj.
The government also decided to refund tourists who made advance bookings at Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve, which is still closed due to COVID-19.
State tourism secretary Dilip Jawalkar says, “The introduction of the coupon scheme makes our state Uttarakhand the first ever state in India to introduce an incentive-based tourism scheme. The launch date will soon be announced,” he added.
Under the scheme, all the tourists visiting Uttarakhand, who have registered themselves under the Dehradun Smart City portal, will be provided with a discount of Rs 1000 or 25% of the accommodation charges per day (whichever is less) subject to a stay of 3 days.
However, this scheme will be applicable only for stay in hotels/homestays in limited areas of Uttarakhand which will be amended as per discretion by Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board.
The discount will be adjusted on the accommodation charges by the hotel/ homestay owner. On the other hand, the hotel/homestay owners can claim the pending bills from the respective government departments on successful submission of documents.
Under the guidance of the COVID-19 State Task Force, the scheme will be tested as a pilot project for one month’s time and may be further extended for a period of 2 months on the basis of successful results.
An overall expenditure of Rs 2.7 crore is expected under this scheme in the initial month, which will be compensated from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
