Yuvraj Padole, Deputy Director, Events & Marketing, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board in interaction with Travel Trade Insider informed how the state is looking to promote its diverse tourism products.
Q. Do you think that going forward, domestic tourism will become more important as tourists may avoid international travel and prefer to explore local destinations?
A. The first segment of the travellers we are looking to attract are people from within and neighbouring states. Madhya Pradesh is surrounded by five states and it is very easy to travel by car from these neighbouring markets.
We have a very good road network which connects major tourist destinations in the state. To begin with, people will start taking weekend tours of 3/4 days itinerary and for them, our state could be the choicest tourism destination as we offer a variety of tourism attractions. In order to inform and attract domestic tourists from neighbouring states, small travel circuits have been designed and itineraries have been prepared for short and enjoyable road trips. Special weekend all-inclusive package tours have also been offered.
Q. When compared to domestic destinations like Kerala and Goa, how do you see the popularity of Madhya Pradesh growing as a tourist destination?
A. Madhya Pradesh being a versatile state offers an assortment of attractions like wildlife, heritage, culture, religious and architecture. The state is blessed with forests, rivers, lakes and mountains. Madhya Pradesh has numerous wildlife hotspots with 11 national parks and 24 wildlife sanctuaries, water bodies, hill stations and many more attractions. Madhya Pradesh is also known as “The Tiger State of the Country”.
Madhya Pradesh is also very rich in its culture and heritage. The UNESCO World Heritage sites at Khajuraho, Bhimbetka and Sanchi are the iconic sites in the state, apart from two Jyotirlingas. Madhya Pradesh is home to many beautiful architectural sites in Orchha, Mandu, Gwalior Burhanpur, Bhopal and many more.
Madhya Pradesh tourism has developed various activities in order to promote the state as a tourist-friendly destination. We have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Eco-Tourism society of India for promoting sustainable and responsible tourism. Our aim is to create future eco-tourism warriors by involving youngsters in various activities at the nature camp spread all over the state. We are constantly working to improve and create new and innovative ways to promote tourism.
Q. There has been an increase in the shooting of films and TV projects in Madhya Pradesh in recent times, what kind of potential do you see in film tourism?
A. The reopening of film shooting in Madhya Pradesh will definitely contribute to our tourism revenue and increase in tourist footfall. Film tourism offers several direct benefits for local hospitality, travel business, service providers and employment generation. Films showcase the natural and cultural heritage of the destination which inspire and influence tourists to visit the locations.
Madhya Pradesh is blessed with many beautiful locations. The filmmakers are eager to shoot in Madhya Pradesh. Some of the major film tourist destinations are Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Maheshwar, Amarkantak, Mandu, Orchha, Chanderi, Kanha and Pachmarhi.
Madhya Pradesh is predominantly a Hindi speaking state, making it more viable and manageable for Bollywood pictures. The peaceful law and orders is another supporting factor. The availability of production facilities, line producers, artists, local crew etc., makes it much more economical to shoot in the state. Also, Madhya Pradesh Tourism department is liable to coordinate with the different concerned departments for shoot permissions on behalf of filmmakers to simplify the process.
Currently, 23 projects of production companies like Paramount Pictures, Studio Next, Salman Khan Films, The Viral Fever, Lyca Productions and others have approached Madhya Pradesh Tourism to shoot in our beautiful locations.
Q. Madhya Pradesh government has also been focusing on rural tourism. Please throw some light on plans to promote this segment?
A. Rural Tourism is a big segment as far as new travel trend is concerned. It is a part of the experiential tourism, where travellers come and stay with the villagers for a longer period and experience the non-polluted village environment and lifestyle of the villagers.
Madhya Pradesh has identified 100 exotic villages that could be showcased for rural tourism. This would involve a great deal of capacity building and training apart from preparing the villagers for rural homestays and other activities to increase their income from tourism.
The objective of the development of rural tourism in MP is to showcase rural life, culture, heritage, art and craft, local cuisine, handloom and textiles. We will select and groom village entertainment groups to unveil the local history and culture, natural and oral treasures which are major tourist attractions.
Q. Adventure tourism is another segment, Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board has been promoting. Do you think that considering the pandemic, tourists will avoid adventure tourism activities?
A. Yes, no doubt that the pandemic situation has affected the tourism industry most, but then we are very aggressive in promoting adventure tourism in the state. We are working on transforming Madhya Pradesh into an adventure hub and have developed more than 30 campsites in the state.
With local community involvement, these campsites are operated and many young tourist groups have shown their interest in these camping sites to experience soft adventure activities for one to two nights duration. Besides camping cycling, trekking, photography and river rafting are major adventure tourism attractions in Madhya Pradesh.
Q. Can you share how many domestic and international tourists visited MP last year?
A. As per the combined survey data of various survey agencies 8,87,07,139 domestic and 3,27,958 international tourists arrived in the state last year. Total tourist arrivals were 8,90,35,097 in the last year.