The Maharashtra government recently came out with a much anticipated comprehensive tourism policy. During the inception of this policy the government virtually gave a huge flip to the concept of ‘workcation’ alongside the promotion of rural life, films, caravans, and medical tourism. The policy, which aims to attract RS 100,000 crore in investment and generate 1.8 million jobs over the next decade. Drawing inspiration from the COVID-19 pandemic, when many embraced remote work in non-urban settings, the policy promoted the concept of ‘workcation’ — a blend of work and vacation. The concept emerged during the COVID-19 lockdown when people, especially from the IT sector, set up camp at vacation destinations while continuing to work for their respective organisations.
This new policy identifies key areas to boost tourism’s contribution to Maharashtra’s goal of becoming a Rs 1 trillion economy by 2028. It focuses on developing robust infrastructure and partnering with various stakeholders, including tour operators and MICE (meetings, incentives, conference, exhibition) organisers, to double revenue generation in their respective sectors. The policy categorises tourism projects into A, B, and C tiers based on size, offering incentives such as GST waivers, electricity rate concessions, and stamp duty reductions. It also proposes cash prizes for innovative products and revival of cultural and artistic customs.
This time around the thrust of the policy is on agriculture, caravan, and adventure tourism. Some of the projects will receive incentives including up to Rs 10 lakh for commendable research work. Rural development is a key focus, with plans to promote local culture, art, cuisine, and festivals. Rural tourism and homestays will be part of the promotion. Following the Mumbai Festival model, other key cities like Nagpur will organise their own festivals, in addition to plans for monsoon and Ganesh festivals to boost tourism.
Prior to this during the tenure of Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government then tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray mooted a new tourism policy. This particular policy came into existence in the post-pandemic era which concentrated on adventure sports. That policy included encouraging adventurous activities like hiking, trekking, cycling and others with emphasis on safety and security, and hence unscrupulous operators would not be permitted. However, these guidelines were not applicable to competitive expeditions or other jungle activities. This particular policy had a plan to showcase the rich natural offerings in the state for adventurous exploits of the brave and daring. The state had offered dense forests, mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, rivers, lakes, beaches on the coastal Konkan, etc, with immense potential for air, land and water adventure tourism activities which is not only a growing segment but much in demand globally.
The policy envisages providing special assistance to different organisations, associations and individuals engaged in or organising adventures sports and related activities, registration, regulation, strict monitoring, training, providing necessary infrastructure, and promotions.
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