New Delhi, Dec 08: Endowed with a rare combination of rivers, mountains, glaciers and religious destination, Uttaranchal seems to have caught the fancy of tourists from across the globe and atleast five global tourist operators have put the state on their itinerary, quite an achievement for any state in the country. The number of domestic, and more significantly the foreign tourists has been on a rise in recent years in Uttaranchal, often described as Devbhumi (abode of god).

Not only the state was flooded with queries from several European and Asian countries but it received importance after the recently held world tourism seminar in London. Many of the tour operators confirmed Uttaranchal as their future tourist destination.


''Tourism in Uttaranchal has received a shot in the arm following atleast five major tour operators of United Kingdom, United States and Switzerland recently adding this state to their itinerary,'' Uttaranchal Tourism Secretary N N Prasad told. Uttaranchal, carved out of Uttar Pradesh three years back, is largely dependent on tourism as one of the two main contributors to the state economy, the other being hydro-electric power.

Presently, the tourism contributes about 15 per cent towards state economy which would increase to 30 per cent, Prasad said, adding, ''the new tourism policy of the state government has been aimed at increasing the share of this sector.''

Bureau Report