In a landmark initiative marking the beginning of a new era for tourism in West Bengal, the Hon’ble Minister-in Charge, Department of Tourism, Dr. Shankar Ghosh, convenes his first consultative meeting with representatives of the State’s leading national and regional tourism and hospitality associations. The meeting was attended by Hon’ble Minister of State Ms. Purnima Chakraborty, Additional Chief Secretary Mr. Barun Kumar Ray, IAS, Director of Tourism Mr. Soumitra Shankar Sengupta, senior officials of the Department, and representatives from across the tourism industry.
The meeting marked the beginning of a structured Government–Industry partnership to formulate a Short- Term Tourism Action Plan and a Long-Term Tourism Development Roadmap, with the vision of positioning tourism as one of West Bengal’s strongest drivers of economic growth, employment generation, investment, and cultural preservation. Highlighting West Bengal’s unparalleled blend of heritage, spirituality, wildlife, rivers, mountains, forests, cuisine, arts, festivals, and warm hospitality, the Hon’ble Minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to transforming these strengths into world-class, experience-led, and responsible tourism offerings. Presenting his vision for the sector, the Hon’ble Minister unveiled the Government’s Five Strategic Priorities for tourism development:
• From Potential to Performance: Transforming Bengal’s immense tourism potential into measurable outcomes through policy reforms, quality infrastructure, authentic tourism statistics, investment, and result- oriented implementation.
• Tourism for All: Creating world-class tourism experiences for high-value domestic and international visitors while ensuring tourism remains inclusive, affordable, and accessible for every section of society.
• Reimagining the Brand of Bengal: Developing Experience Bengal 2.0, a comprehensive destination branding and marketing initiative to reposition West Bengal as India’s leading destination for experience- led responsible tourism through integrated branding, strategic destination marketing, digital innovation, and product development.
• Gateway to the East: Strengthening air, rail, road, and river connectivity while facilitating seamless, tourist-friendly travel to position West Bengal as the gateway to Eastern and North-Eastern India and neighbouring countries.
• Partnership for Progress: Building a collaborative tourism ecosystem by strengthening partnerships between the government, industry, investors, local communities, and allied departments while promoting greater ease of doing business.
Describing the meeting as the beginning of a new chapter for Bengal Tourism, the Hon’ble Minister’s vision- driven leadership and strategic roadmap received an overwhelming response from the tourism industry. Within just five days of assuming office, this initiative has inspired renewed confidence among industry stakeholders and laid the foundation for a stronger partnership between the Government and the tourism industry, with the formation of the new Government in West Bengal, Dr. Shankar Ghosh has assumed charge as the Hon’ble Minister-in-Charge of the Tourism Department.
Representatives from the tourism and hospitality sector shared valuable recommendations on destination marketing, infrastructure, connectivity, tourism statistics, policy reforms, investment promotion, skill development, sustainable tourism, and ease of doing business. The consultation also emphasised the development of high-potential niche tourism segments, including River Tourism, Heritage Tourism, Adventure Tourism, and Medical Tourism.
A major outcome of the meeting was the proposal to develop an integrated West Bengal Tourism Master Policy, bringing together all tourism-related policies under a unified strategic framework to position the State as a globally recognised experience-led tourism destination. The meeting also highlighted the need for the effective implementation of Industry Status for tourism through appropriate rules, incentives, and coordinated inter-departmental action.
To ensure structured stakeholder participation, Tourism Industry Associations have been requested to submit their organisational profiles, recognised membership details, and present their Three-Year Vision, sector-specific priorities, and recommendations through structured slide presentations aligned with the Government’s Five Strategic Priorities. These presentations will form the basis of the State’s Short-Term Tourism Action Plan and Long-Term Tourism. Development Roadmap.
The Hon’ble Minister also announced the establishment of a Special Tourism Facilitation Cell within the Department to receive, evaluate and facilitate proposals relating to tourism projects, investments, marketing and promotional initiatives. The Cell will ensure transparent, coordinated and time-bound examination of industry proposals, reinforcing the Government’s commitment to responsive governance and improved ease of doing business.
Reaffirming the Government’s commitment to collaborative governance, the Hon’ble Minister announced that regular consultative meetings and thematic working groups would be institutionalised to ensure continuous dialogue and active industry participation in tourism policy and implementation.
The meeting concluded with a shared commitment between the Government and the tourism industry to transform West Bengal into one of India’s most admired and globally competitive destinations for experience-led, responsible and sustainable tourism, creating greater investment, employment, entrepreneurship and inclusive economic growth.
