Uttarakhand Tourism Policy, 2018 :

1. Vision  :

To create Uttarakhand as a global tourist destination that is safe, sustainable and by wich includs world class tourism products and services and could unleash true tourism potential of the State.

2. Objectives : The Objectives of the uttarakhand tourism policy 2018 are as follows:-

 a. To develop & strengthen the image of Uttarakhand as a safe and tourist friendly destination. b. To create and develop new tourism destinations and unique tourism products offering unmatched experience catering to various tourist segments. c. To ensure necessary basic amenities at all tourist destinations like – parking, toilets, signages at strategic locations, ATMs, dispensaries, ticketing counters, internet and telecom facilities etc. d. To promote and develop Uttarakhand State as a wellness hub and promoting medical tourism based packages. e. To promote and develop Uttarakhand as winter tourism & Alpine tourism destination which will solve the issue of short tourist season of the state. These destinations will be specially promoted after Char Dham yatra. f. Promote inclusive tourism strategies through community based tourism ensuring equitable distribution of benefits to the local communities. g. Making disaster resilient tourism infrastructure & establish SoPs to reduce adverse effects of disaster on tourists. h. To promote balanced regional development through Hub & Spoke model and to resolve the carrying capacity issues of prominent tourist destinations. i. To promote and support entrepreneurship through tourism incubators, start-ups and skilling centre etc. j. To enhance ease of doing business (investor facilitation) by strengthening single window clearance process for faster approvals of tourism entities k. To ensure the involvement of other State and Central Government Ministries/ Departments to leverage their strengths and schemes (eg. Swadesh Darshan, PRASAD, AMRUT, Swachh Bharat Mission, Wellness Centre under Ayushman Bharat Scheme,Start-Up India, Hunar Se Rozgar etc.) for improvement of tourism infrastructure in the state.

3. Guiding Principles:

The guiding Priciples of the Uttarakhand Tourism Policy are as follows:- a. Aggressive Marketing and Branding of Uttarakhand Tourism by running campaigns, roadshows, appointing influential celebrity as State’s Tourism Brand Ambassador, radio jingles, social networking and other appropriate platforms.

b. To ascertain capacity building of tourism workforce and increase employment through skill development. c. To solicit participation and funding support from private sector, multilateral organisations and allied countries and donation from charitable agencies, individuals, Government Bonds, CSR, etc. in tourism infrastructure development.

d. Strengthening Tourism Trade Facilitation through single window clearance, appointing nodal officers, land banks and tourism investor’s meets/platforms.

4. Development Strategy  :

Government of Uttarakhand has decided to develop ‘13 District 13 Destinations’. This important initiative is targeted towards holistic development of the state and will take tourism to the last mile and far flung yet beautiful districts of Uttarakhand.

1.Development of Potential Land banks 1.1 UTDB shall create a land banks for tourism purpose in every district, as the Uttarakhand Government has decided to develop one new tourism destination in each of the 13 districts. 1.2 State Government has formulated “Uttarakhand Tourism Land Pooling & Implementation Rules 2017” to enable faster and easier land identification and pooling procedures for tourism. This procedure shall also provide a suitable platform (to be developed on PPPmode) for new theme based criterion. 1.3 The State Government shall adopt a ‘Focused Intervention Approach’ to identify suitable land parcels in identified tourism themes.

2 Potential Tourism place. 2.1 Geographical Information System (GIS) shall be leveraged for mapping of different tourist destinations across the state, which will be a ready reckoner to investors (refer map for potential tourism destinations). 2.2 Department of Tourism shall conduct detailed resource mapping after every 2 years for all natural, cultural, heritage tourism sites and update the information on GIS based platforms. 2.3 Kiosks shall be placed at important and strategic places like Airport, Railway Stations, ISBT and in the premises of other key departments (viz. Dept. of Industries, AYUSH, Skill, Forest department etc.) for potential investors and tourists to impart information on potential tourism projects, land details, policies, approval processes, incentives and subsidies etc. 2.4- Tourism development will be a focus for lesser developed yet potential areas, so that employment opportunities are created and economic growth is ushered.

3 Identified Tourism Products / Themes The Major Themes in which destinations across Uttarakhand can be divided are the following: a. Adventure b. Pilgrimage, Cultural & Festivals c. Wildlife & Bird Sanctuaries d. Nature & Landscape e. Health, Rejuvenation & Spiritual f. Eco/Rural Tourism g. Water Sports, Cruise, Yachts etc. h. MICE i. Buddhist j. Heritage k. Ropeways and Funicular.

5. Product Development& Opportunities  :

Uttarakhand is extremely rich in natural and cultural heritage, religious destinations and festivals etc. UTDB shall prepare a Detailed Tourism Road Map by March 2019 having complete inventory of tourism resources – products/activities, destinations, potential for tourism development, status of the existing infrastructure, gaps, and tourism stakeholders along with action plan in phase wise manner.

Few of the identified tourism products after Stakeholders Consultations are discussed below:

5.1 Wellness & Health :  Uttarakhand since ages is known for its therapeutic products. The state is well known for its varied species of famous medicinal plants and herbs. Over the decade, numerous private operators offering wellness and rejuvenation products have mushroomed especially in the Haridwar-Rishikesh belt. With the advent of wellness and rejuvenation products, this segment has further established a high demand thus it shall be promoted in other suitable regions of the state.

5.2 Ecotourism and Wildlife Tourism : i. UTDB shall work in close co-ordination with the Ecotourism Board of Department of Forest and provide civic and tourist amenities in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries jointly along with Forest Department to ensure visitor satisfaction. ii. Ecotourism activities shall be developed with the help of Forest Department so that the rich biodiversity of the state. iii. Planning for such destinations will be done by engaging the local communities to ensure equitable distribution of benefits and socio-economic upliftment of the local population. may propagate / disseminate.

5.3 Adventure Tourism : Private sector participation will be encouraged to develop adventure tourism activities in the state. These activities will include water sports, white water rafting, aero sports,paragliding, parasailing, hot air ballooning, mountain biking, trekking, mountaineering, rock climbing, bungee jumping, etc.

5.4 Film Tourism  : i. Uttarakhand has been a hot-spot of film shooting locations where Nainital, Mussoorie, Ganga, Char Dham, Jim Corbett and Hilly Terrains of Kumaon& Garhwal are some famous palces for shooting. ii. The Department of Tourism shall facilitate production houses in faster approvals for filming sites, and thus strengthen symbiotic relationship between the production houses and the state.

5.5 Golf Tourism :  i. UTDB shall work in close co-ordination with Department of Sports and Indian Golf Union to identify potential investors, locations feasible for Golf & Mini Golf.

5.6 Service Apartments : Service apartments are usually operated by caretakers hired by its owners to provide comfortable stays to visitors for short-term or long term stays.

5.7 Homestay : Homestay unit visitors get experience of rural life, culture and cuisine of host community. Homestay has resulted as a means of alternative livelihood this can also play a vital role for resolving shortage of rooms for tourist in various areas. State Government has notified Deendayal Upadhyaya Homestay Development Schemes and Guidelines 2018 for development of homestay units in rural areas for locals.

5.8 Discover your roots : The Department shall initiate new tourism products to be based on ‘Gotras’ (Roots), as there is a believe that all the Gotras are lineage of their respective ‘Sages’ and Uttarakhand is abode of all ‘Sages.’ There fore Department will develop Gotra specific trails, where the tourists can visit them according to their respective Gotras.

5.9 Ropeways : State has eminence potential for establishing tourist ropeways on PPP model. Some of the identified projects are Dehradun-Mussoorie, Jankichatti-Yamunotri, Govindghat-Hemkund Sahib, Bhairav Gadhi, Deva Ka Danda, Binsar etc.

5.10 Air Connectivity/Helipads : The Department shall develop helipads at prominent tourism destinations in coordination with Department of Civil Aviation with basic amenities like Toilets, Restroom and Kitchenette.

5.11 Public Private Partnership (PPP) :  i) Non-profitable and closed units of Tourism Corporations will be given on lease to private sector for better and profitable operations of the units through competitive bidding on case to case basis.

6. Institutional Framework  :

High Powered Empowered Committee (HPEC) : A High Powered Empowered Committee shall be constituted to sanction all tourism projects including mega tourism projects of Private Sector or as identified by Department/UTDB on its land bank and existing properties, The investor who wishes to avail tourism sector Incentives and Subsidies of the State has to apply and get the project registered in UTDB simultaneously with Single Window Clearance System. UTDB shall forward the project with its recommedations to HPEC for approval.

7. Incentives / Subsidies :

 To attract tourism investment in the State the State Cabinet has accorded ‘Industry Status’ to tourism and considered tourism as a mainstay of the state economy. Now, the investors can avail attractive incentives and subsidies akin to industry under MSME Policy-2015, where total project cost is upto INR 10 Cr. The department has also made separate provisions under Mega Industrial & Investment Policy – 2015 (As amended in 2018) for attracting larger tourism and allied projects, where project cost is above INR 10 Cr.

7.1 Eligible Entity under Tourism :  In view of the potential of tourism in the state and lack of opportunity for traditionally defined enterprises / tourism unit, definition of enterprises / tourism unit to be expanded to include following tourism activities so that they can get the benefits as per the MSME (where Capital Investment is up to INR 10 Cr.)and Incentives available to larger tourism projects (where Capital Investment is above INR 10 Cr.) as Government has granted industrial status to tourism industry also.

             The Uttarakhand tourism policy 2018 shall come into form the date of issuing notification in. this regard by State government and shall applicable for next Five years. The implementation of the policy shall be reviewed every year at Sate level and amendments shall be made as required.