West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) has failed to reach its target of making a profit of Rs 10 crore due to demonetisation of high value notes.
In reply to a question regarding the effects of demonetisation on the tourism sector in the state, the state Tourism minister Goutam Deb said in the Assembly on Thursday that the set target of making Rs 10 crore profit would have been reached easily by the end of this fiscal if the Centre had not announced demonetisation.
Deb told the Assembly that as the assessment goes, the profit will touch Rs 8 crore, which is Rs 2 crore less than the set target.
The department has taken several steps for development in the tourism sector and it has started attracting a large number of tourists.
The flow in the number of tourists at different spots has increased manifold in the past six years. Thus, it can be said that WBTDC would have easily achieved the target of Rs 10 crore by the end of current fiscal.
Though prior bookings had not got cancelled much, there were no new bookings of resorts in the peak season and this is the main reason behind the failure to achieve the set target.
He further said steps have been taken by the Tourism department to attract tourists at different spots of the state including the hills, Dooars, Jharkhali, Sojnekhali and different areas of Sunderbans. He has also mentioned of the arrangement of taking tourists from the city to Sunderbans in vessels MV Sailaja and MV Chitralekha.
The tourism minister also mentioned that steps have been taken to construct eco tourism at different spots including Jharkhali in a PPP model.