Bengal tourism posts report of over 12L user engagements during the 2020-21 fiscal, highest across the nation

KOLKATA: The state Tourism department's efforts towards a robust presence on social media platforms made it achieve the highest number of user engagement and views among all states in the country during 2020-21 financial year.

The achievement assumes special significance considering the fact that the pandemic had badly hit the tourism sector.

"There have been more than 12 lakh user engagements, when it comes to queries and replies about Bengal tourism. The average engagement on social media content has been 4000 and the number of video views has been 30 lakh," a senior officialof the state Tourism department said. The blog of the department, which is maintained in a professional manner, has 150 contents uploaded.

The department has laid special emphasis on social media publicity considering its reach, especially among the younger generation and also to cut down costs on promotional advertisements during COVID-19 times.

Senior officials of the Tourism department held a stakeholder's conference in March 2021 and briefed about the government's plan for social media push and urged them to join and support the initiative.

The Tourism department has accounts/pages on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, which are regularly updated with beautiful pictures and information, and through which people can interact with the department if they have any queries.

Bengal Tourism has its own YouTube channel on which it has put up short videos showcasing the different tourist destinations The department's website has also seen a major revamp and is now an exhaustive source of information from which one can have very good ideas of tourist places, properties, homestays, etc.

The 360 degree view of different tourist destinations like Victoria Memorial Hall Kolkata and Hazarduari in Murshidabad and Bishnupur temples in Bankura has also been uploaded in the website.