W.Bengal 6th most preferred destination among foreigners

West Bengal has scaled up one point to become the 8^th preferred destination among the domestic tourists and 6^th preferred among the international tourists for 2015, informed Surajit Bose, Additional Director and Ex-officio Joint Secretary – Tourism, Government of West Bengal. “In 2015 West Bengal recorded a tourist footfall of 7,16,82,950 as against 5.04,15,685 in 2014,” he said. “The budgetary allocation for Tourism Department has increased manifold over the years, from a meagre Rs 44 crore in 2011-12 to Rs 257 crore in 2015-16. This has certainly encouraged us and given more room for growth.”

With a revamped brand identity, the state government is working on a slew of initiatives such as a home stay policy, several mega projects, launch of mobile app, among others, and aims to position itself among the top three most visited states.