The State’s Tourism and Culture minister Satpal Maharaj said that tourists arriving in Uttarakhand can now avail the benefit of the tourist incentive coupon scheme. The minister said this during the inauguration of a virtual B2B travel trade event on Friday. Representatives of 18 countries and 13 Indian states attended different sessions of the event.

Maharaj said, “Tourism has been badly hit by the Covid pandemic but I am confident that we will collectively overcome this challenge too. I also want to assure those involved with tourism in Uttarakhand that the government is fully aware of your situation and is committed to resolving the problems.”

He further informed that there is no restriction on movement of tourists with Covid negative lab report. To boost tourism, the State has also launched the tourist incentive coupon scheme under which the tourists will receive Rs 1,000 or 25 per cent (whichever is less) rebate on their daily accommodation expense. Apart from this Rs 1,000 compensation each had also been announced for 2.43 lakh workers linked to 1.09 lakh units. Further, the government will compensate interest on the principal amount in the first quarter on loan taken under Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali tourism self employment scheme and Deendayal home-stay scheme. The annual hike in water bills of hotels, restaurants and other roadside eateries has been brought down to nine per cent from the usual 15 per cent.

The minister also spoke about the steps being taken in Uttarakhand to boost the rural economy, religious tourism, wellness tourism and adventure tourism among other aspects.