Chairman, HPTDC R.S. Bali said that the state government was taking effective steps to develop sustainable tourism infrastructure in Himachal Pradesh in association with the private sector on public-private partnership (PPP) mode. While presiding over a conference on business opportunities in Himachal Pradesh organised by the department of tourism and civil aviation in Chandigarh, he stated that Himachal was a peaceful and safe destination in the country with vast potential for tourism sector.
The state government was committed to exploit this potential for strengthening the state economy besides generating employment and self-employment avenues for the youth. He said the main purpose of the conference was to partner with private sector for development, management and operation of the properties being developed under the new Asian Development Bank (ADB) project so that world class facilities and experience could be given to the tourists.
He said more such conferences would be held in other places of the country to encourage private sector for investment in Himachal. The conference welcomed valuable suggestions and feedback from the private sector developers and operators especially on the design, partnership structure and other aspects of the sub-projects under ADB. The private sector expressed keen interest in the properties offered for public private partnership during a presentation.
Principal Secretary, Tourism Devesh Kumar, Director, Tourism and Civil Aviation Mansi Sahay Thakur, representatives of leading hotel groups like Taj, ITC, Mahindra, Oberoi, Sarovar, etc. and consultancy agencies including Deloitte, PWC etc. from the private sector attended the conference. The officials of ADB from Manila and New Delhi were also present on this occasion.