These 2 places in Himachal bag awards for being best adventure and eco-tourism destinations
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The Newz Radar
SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh bagged two prestigious awards in the ‘Outlook Traveller Awards-2023’ function held at New Delhi late Friday evening. Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu was the chief guest on the occasion. He presented awards to the winners of various categories on the occasion.
Himachal Pradesh won awards in ‘Best Adventure Tourist Destination Gold Category’ for Bir-Billing in Kangra district and ‘Best Eco-Tourism Destination Gold Category for Spiti’ in Lahaul-Spiti district. Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) Chairman RS Bali received the awards.
Speaking on the occasion, Sukhu urged the investors to invest liberally in Himachal Pradesh in the tourism sector and added that the state government would facilitate them with speedy approvals and clearances. He said Himachal was the best tourist destination for all reasons and all seasons as it had the best snowline and snowbound areas, forest area, water bodies, green meadows and luxurious home-stays.
The state government will also encourage tourists to enjoy night drives in the picturesque valleys of the state and home-stays will also be developed to facilitate their stay en route, besides creating wayside amenities, he said. The Chief Minister said that the government was also laying impetus on developing the tourism sector further by developing new destinations, strengthening infrastructure and creating amenities to generate tourist’s interest in the state so that they could plan longer vacations which could fetch greater income to the state.
He said that heliports would be constructed near all district headquarters, besides expansion of Kangra airport to improve air connectivity. “The government is focusing upon bringing about 5 crore tourists to the state in near future. Kangra district is being developed as the tourism capital of the state,” said Sukhu. He said that the government would spend about Rs 3,000 crore on creating tourist infrastructure in Kangra district. An international-level zoo will be developed at Bankhandi in Kangra district to encourage tourists interested in wildlife tourism.
Himachal is a hub of religious tourism due to famous Shaktipeeths and added that soon it would be a centre of spiritual tourism too. He said that the state was focusing upon developing eco-tourism in a big way. The state government is envisioning to develop Himachal Pradesh as green state of the country by March 2026 and taking such measures to promote green energy in the state, said the Chief Minister. He said the state is focusing upon harnessing solar energy, green hydrogen besides other sources of renewable energy to achieve the objective. Efforts are afoot to promote electric vehicles to get rid of diesel vehicles in the near future, he reiterated.
