Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons on Thursday visited the world’s tallest Statue of Unity which is now one of India’s most favored tourists destinations. Alphons, who is also the Chairman of National Tourism Advisory Council (NTAC) said that the Statue of Unity will witness almost five million visitors by next year. The union minister also claimed that tourism industry has created almost 1.39 crore jobs in the last four years.
Alphons said that since its inauguration by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on 31st October last year, tourists from all over the world have started to pour in Gujarat. “We have to tap the tourists’ flow and converted into regular promotion of various Tourist destinations of Gujarat and other part of the country,” Alphons said.
Union Minister emphasized that Government is keen to see this target is achieved by way of promoting Statue of the Unity globally synchronizing with National and State tourist destinations, with the help of State government and other stakeholders. “We will develop SOU as an Iconic site with world-class infrastructure and tourism facilities,” he added.
Alphons also flagged off India’s first Electric Vehicle tourism initiative launched by the Gujarat Tourism at SOU, Kevadia. He inaugurated eco-friendly e-Bikes at the Statue of Unity, Kevadia.
While flagging off the e-bike, Union Minister said that the e-Bike Tours will provide an immersive experience to the tourists, allowing them to explore the beauty and history of the Statue of Unity and the surrounding areas in an eco-friendly way. “Sustainability is a huge focus for us and through e-bike tours, we aim to encourage people to adopt eco-friendly tourism initiatives,” he added.
On Thursday, Union Minister Alphons held a meeting with Gujarat’s Principal Secretary S J Haider and Commissioner of Tourism Jenu Devan at Kevadia. Along with the Narmada district authorities and NTAC members, they discussed the road-map for the global promotion of world’s tallest statue, The Statue of Unity.
Union Tourism Minister is in Kevadia for two-day visit with the members of NTAC for planning of promotion activities for the Statue of Unity. Experts from the hospitality, travel and tour industry have also been invited to attend the meeting.
Recently, the Alphons informed the Lok Sabha that “Revenue worth Rs.19.47 crore was generated from visitors to the Statue of Unity from November last year to 31st January, 2019 ” and the number of tourists visiting the Statue of Unity at Kevadia was at 7,81,349 in the same three months period. Citing this huge popularity of the Statue of Unity, authorities have increased the visiting time to the site by two hours.