North Bengal can be a ‘leader’ in the tourism industry due to its geographical advantages, but it lacks a ‘think tank’ to create philosophies for the development of the industry here, a discussion session held during the North Bengal Investment Forum-2018 was told.

Addressing panel discussions on tourism, organized by the Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) at Uttarkanya auditorium on 16 February, the coordinator of the Association of Conservation for Tourism (ACT), Supratim Raj Basu said north Bengal can connect eight northeastern states and four countries. “It is good that a Passport Seva Kendra will start functioning here.

But ironically, as we can reach Bangladesh in five minutes from here, we need to go to Kolkata for a visa. Is this justified?” he said. “If a tourist wants to visit eastern Nepal, he would not land in Kolkata or Guwahati and even in Kathmandu. He wants to land at Bagdogra. As a result, we need to work on a cross-border policy.

In western Bhutan, the population of that country is less than the visitors. But do we have proper transportation circuit, when tourists have to spend 70 per cent of their planned budget on transport in this region? We need to start thinking on cross-border policies,” he added.

Another tour operator, Partha Guha said north Bengal needs to create new products to attract tourists. Citing an example, Mr Guha said: “The Sikkim government has been coming up with new products frequently by building ropeways and statues and parks. Namchi was not a tourist destination, but after setting up of the Chaar Dhaam there, religious tourism has changed its scenario.”

“Central government records show that we get nearly 16 lakh foreign tourists. But we don’t notice them because nearly 14 lakh people come from Bangladesh. Virtually we get one lakh foreign tourists,” he said, adding, “If we look at the communication system by air, nine of the top 10 airports are located on the western side of the country’s map and only one is located on the eastern side, and that is in Kolkata.”

Notably, all speakers stressed on the immediate need to renovate and upgrade Bagdogra Airport. A speaker from the Dooars, Dibyendu Deb, was positive, and he showcased the rich Dooars for natural beauty and urged industrialists to invest there.

“You can invest money to set up educational institutes for hospitality management for locals so that they can find employment based on tourism,” Mr Deb said. He also pointed out that entrepreneurs can set up industries based on handicraft, which has become popular among tourists visiting the Dooars.

Highlighting activeness of the North Bengal Development Department, a senior tour operator in Siliguri, Samrat Sanyal stressed on the need to concentrate on coordination between government departments, which have a major role to play in bringing in development in the tourism sector. Mr Sanyal also urged the audience to think beyond Darjeeling, which is the bestestablished tourist destination in this region, and stressed on the need to create more tourism products.