SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh government would use social media to accelerate tourism in the hilly state, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has told the state assembly. He said the state remained weak in the current era of information technology.
“Now our government has taken an initiative in this direction. The Tourism Department will soon complete the process of appointing a social media consultant. Subsequently Youtube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter will be used to accelerate tourism in the state,” Thakur said. “We have to consider new proposals with open mind and will have to allow participation from the private sectors to boost tourism in the state,” he said.
New areas including Chanshal in the Shimla district, Bir Billing in Kangra and Janjehli in Mandi would be developed as tourist-points in the state as traditional tourist places including Shimla, Manali, Dharamshala and Kasauli have become saturated due to huge rush, he added. A loan of Rs 1,892 crore has been sanctioned from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for developing new areas as tourist places in the state, he added.
The chief minister informed the House that Himachal would soon get a full-fledged airport. “A central team has already visited two-three areas,” he said. Thakur said heli-taxis would soon be made operational for various tourist destinations on the pattern of Shimla-Chandigarh heli-taxi. He informed the House that existing ropeway projects would soon be completed and new projects would be started. PTI
