The Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) is banking heavily on international investment and knowhow to attract tourists to Kokrajhar and the nearby Manas National Park.
"Tourism activity is new to Bodoland and we are trying to be quite aggressive in selling the various products we have on offer, both to international and domestic tourists. Manas is very important in our scheme of things ever since it reopened in 2004. The entire community was involved in the conservation process and we want to generate more revenue to benefit the people. From October, we will have paragliding facilities for tourists. We are also tying up with a Swedish firm to start a unique elephant safari. This should start from November. Unlike other elephant safaris, which involve an hour's trip into the forest, the animals and mahouts will remain with the tourists as long as they desire. The tourists can actually train to be mahouts. They will be taught the elephants' language, how to bathe the animals and feed them. The jungle safari will be of three hours," Kampa Borgoyari, deputy chief of BTC, who is in charge of the tourism, forest and industries departments, told TOI.
BTC came into being in 2003 and administers an area of 9,000 square kms with a population of 31 lakh. Situated in the foothills of Bhutan, more than a third of the area is covered by pristine forests. It is here that tourists can catch a glimpse of animals like Golden Langurs and Pygmy Hogs.
While a four-star hotel is likely to start operations in October this year, an Australian group is building a 5-star property there. Road connectivity in the area has also improved. For the mid-budget tourist, there are cottages, homestays and tent houses. Only about 500 domestic tourists (apart from people in Assam who visited Manas) and a few foreign ones visited the area. With the new facilities, Borgoyari feels that they will be able to accommodate 300 tourists at a time. "We want tour operators who visited Bodoland earlier to know that things have improved a lot now," he said.
» Read Complete News.....(You need to login first to read complete news). New User? Register for FREE!
» Back to Travel News