Tourism Industry in Punjab would witness a record expansion in Punjab in coming years as the state was taking special initiatives in this regard prioritizing the 'Eco-Tourism' in the state.This was stated by Chuni Lal Bhagat, Forerst Minister, Punjab under the mission Eco-Tourism Punjab has launched a special campaign to preserve natural water resources, trees and wildlife for expansion of Tourism industry in the state. The Minister was speaking after inaugurating the second and concluding day of International Conference on Tourism Promotion. Mr. Bhagat informed the conference that Punjab has decided to develop its wetlands including Harike Pattan, Ropar, Keshopur, Nangal, Kanjli and Ranjit Sagar Dam as International Tourism Centers, which would attract the tourists from across the world. He also informed that Punjab would also promote wildlife tourism on the international tourism map by preserving the rare wildlife. He said that Forest and Tourism Department was working in collaboration to promote Eco-Tourism in the state, which would bring positive results in the coming time.
Presiding over the second day session, Mrs. Raji P Srivastva Secretary, Tourism department, said that tourism department would launch a sustained drive in association with Forest Department to conserve natural heritages in the state. Chief Wildlife Conservator Mr. H.S. Gujral said that Punjab was also contemplating a plan to further development of zoos in the state besides making them economically autonomous bodies to make them center of attraction for tourists.Bernerd Harrison, Mr. Krispean Abreson, Mr. H. Somorandro, Mr. Narhari Rao, Dr. Khyati Mathur, Dr. Sanjiv Pandey, Dr. Kuldip Kumar, Mr. P.C. Tyagi, Dr. B.K. Gupta and Mr. Sudhir Sahi were natural tourism experts, who spoke on the occasion. On this occasion an audio-visual exhibition was also displayed. Mr. NPS Randhawa, Director Tourism Department and Additional Project Director Mr. VB Kumar thanked the delegates for their valuable suggestions.