5.5 LACS TOURISTS VISITED IN 2008 TO SIKKIM

Sikkim receive 60per cent of tourism funds from Ministry of Tourism (MoT) earmarked for NE states

Gangtok, Dec 31 : Sikkim has received a record sanction of 60 per cent of the total funds for tourism projects earmarked by the Union Ministry of Tourism (MoT) for the entire Northeastern states during 2007-08, an official report stated.


In its annual report, the state tourism department said the Union Ministry of Tourism had sanctioned 19 tourism projects for 2007-08, totalling to around Rs 75.46 crore.

Besides these MoT projects, a Rs 27.24 crore project for construction of passenger ropeway from Namchi to Samdruptse in South Sikkim has been funded by the DoNER Ministry and State plan. The project has achieved 20 per cent progress.

The department also claimed that a large number of tourism projects sanctioned during 2006-07 and 2007-08 are either completed or in progress.

''As a result of its incredible performance, Sikkim Tourism has been able to establish an excellent track record with the Union Ministry of Tourism,'' the report said, adding, this has certainly attributed to more Centrally sponsored schemes from MoT since 2002.

Many tourism proposals prioritised for 2008-09 are already under active consideration of MoT, the report states.

For 2008-09, Sikkim has been selected as the only state in the entire Northeast region for the 'Major Destination Development Project' for Gangtok. The project is being funded by MoT at a tentative cost of Rs 23.9 crore. A proposal worth Rs 14.30 crore is also pending before MoT for development of herbal medical tourism Rakdong-Tintek in East Sikkim.

Endorsing its tourism image, the hilly state has received the Northeast award of the MoT for 'Best Tourism Performing State' consecutively for the last seven years. Sikkim also shared the national award in tourism with Maharashtra in 2007-08.

As a result of large scale tourism value additions, Sikkim has witnessed a steady increase of tourist arrivals benefitting a large section of local community and tourism stakeholders. The average annual increase in tourism footfalls in Sikkim over the past five years is to the order of 22 per cent, the report states.

A record number of 5.5 lakh tourists visited Sikkim during this year and the state is targetting to attract at least seven lakh tourists by the next three years.

--- UNI