Agartala, Apr 12 (PTI) Tripura Tourism Minister Pranajit Singha Roy Tuesday said that a MoU will be inked between the state tourism department and Bangladesh tour operators to introduce conducted tours to the neighouring country during the second edition of Indo-Bangla Paryatan Utsav here.
The three-day tourism event will begin on April 17 and a 75-member strong contingent from Bangladesh will be present, official said.
The Bangladesh team will include MP Abidul Mukhtar Chowdhury, tour operators, hotel owners, cultural activists, intellectuals and political personalities, they said.
Besides, tour operators from West Bengal and Assam will also take part in the Indo-Bangla Paryatan Utsav which will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb.
During 2018-19 around 1.2 lakh foreign tourists visited the state’s tourist hotspots and 80 per cent of the foreign tourists came from Bangladesh. Tourists from the state on the other hand are keen to visit Chittagong due to nostalgia of a shared past, the minister said.
We want to promote tourism on both sides as it generates faster revenue,” Singha Roy said.
A proposal to introduce direct bus service between Agartala and Chittagong via Dhaka has been made by the Bangladesh tour operators, he said.
We are working on the proposal, which will be feasible once Delhi clears the proposal. The Bangladesh tour operators have been asked to take up the issue with Dhaka, the minister said.
At present the Agartala-Kolkata via Dhaka bus service has resumed after being suspended for two years due to the COVID pandemic. Another bus is expected to be introduced in the route very shortly.
The first edition of Indo-Bangla Paryatan Utsav was held in 2020 and could not be held last year due to the COVID pandemic.