With MCC in place, Tourism dept decides to axe e-tenders
Kolkata: The state Tourism department has cancelled three e-tenders that were floated with an objective to boost the tourism sector in the state.
The tenders were floated a few days before the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates and with the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) coming into effect, the department cancelled the tenders soon after the election dates were announced.
"The Prinicipal Secretary of our department (Atri Bhattacharya) does not want any complexities that may arise with the MCC coming into effect. So, he instructed us to cancel all the three e-tenders," a senior official of the state Tourism department said.
According to the official, the three e-tenders that have been cancelled were for the selection of market research consultant to have a comprehensive mapping of the tourism sector, public relation and event management firm for a comprehensive publicity and promotion plan and engagement of engineering and technical consultant for developing a detailed financing model to work out cash flow statement, statement of profit and loss and balance-sheet.
"After the election results are announced we plan to speed up the whole process," the official said.
Elaborating on the work of the public relation and event management firm the official said that it will be analysing market data and advice on media and communications options and also build a positive identity to assist in creating a uniform brand identity for Bengal Tourism that will resonate with the target groups both in India and abroad.
The market research consultant will conduct a comprehensive study to map the movements of the tourists once they have entered the state, their average number of days of stay, average expenditure incurred and purpose of visit of each tourist during their stay in the state. The consultant will further provide feedback regarding specific preference of the tourists in terms of destination, cuisine, merchandise, grade of stay, transportation, specific feedback to overcome shortcomings in the tourism and hospitality sector in Bengal, specific observations and suggestions for domestic and international tourists to enter the state and to travel within the state in terms of transport and information.
The job of the engineering and technical consultant will be social impact assessment due to the implementation of the project, especially the persons affected due to the project and requiring resettlement and rehabilitation. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wants the state to be number one in the country when it comes to the inflow of both domestic and foreign tourists.
