Assam Tourism Department Corporation (ATDC) has started developing a unique concept of tourism called ‘Tea & Tee’ which clubs tea tourism along with golf tourism. This was revealed by Jayanta Malla Baruah, Chairman, ATDC, on the sidelines of a three-city roadshow that travelled to Ahmedabad, Pune and finally Mumbai. The roadshow was a joint effort between Department of Tourism, Govt of Assam in association with India Tourism, Mumbai (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India). Leading the event was Chandan Brahma, Honourable Tourism Minister, Assam, along with 36 tour operators from Assam who were participating in the roadshow.
Elaborating on the new concept, Baruah explains, “Assam is a small state but we have more than 22 golf courses that are world-class with nine-hole and 18-hole courses. If we include the small ones, it is more than 30 golf courses. A lot of these are located inside tea estates that also have tea bungalows that are unique to Assam.” Highlighting the growing numbers to the state, he said that Assam has received more than 60 lakh domestic tourists in 2018-19. FTAs in the same period was around 41,000-plus. “We are expecting to cross 50,000 FTAs this year and at least 70-75K in domestic tourists,” he revealed.
According to reports, Assam government has sanctioned INR 300 crore to Assam Tourism in order to promote the state as a world-class tourist destination. Sarbananda Sonowal, Chief Minister of Assam, tweeted recently to announce its decision and also revealed that the government is brainstorming to host Filmfare Awards in Guwahati for the first time.