GUJARAT TO FOCUS ON BEACH TOURISM

Gujarat Tourism seems to be keen on following the footsteps of its counterpart in Goa, in terms of promoting beach and adventure tourism along its pristine coastline. An investment of over Rs 250 crore has already been earmarked to develop the proposed beach tourism circuit by mid-2010. "Like Goa, Gujarat too will have water sports activities, such as yachting, sailing and the like on its beaches by next year," said Kingshuk Biswas, Manager (Marketing & Investments), Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd.(TCGL).

KERALA GOVT PLANS OCEANARIUM IN KOCHI
The Government of Kerala is planning to develop an Oceanarium spread over 44 acres at New Vypeen in Kochi on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model with an investment of Rs 300 crore. The proposed Oceanarium which will be launched by 2010 is expected to be the largest in South East Asia. According to sources the Government of Kerala, Ministry of Earth Science and Government of India will hold 49 per cent stake and the remaining 51 per cent will be allocated to private parties.

HPTDC KEEN TO START HELI-TAXIS IN THE STATE

The Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) is planning to introduce the concept of heli-taxis in the state. The sate has a total of 57 helipads which can be used to develop and promote this new concept. The government will present its scheme of heli-taxis under the Government of India economic schemes and will require an assistance of ruppees ten crore from the central government for three years. The Himachal Pradesh government is eager to start operations of heli-taxis as soon as possible.