MoT launches new campaign for Himalayas

The Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has launched a new campaign to promote the Himalayas. The new campaign ‘777 Days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas’ to take centre stage the Incredible Indian Himalayas on the world tourism map. “The Ministry of Tourism has decided to meet 50% of peak fee chargeable by Indian Mountaineering Foundation from the climbing expeditions during the period of 777 days of the campaign. Chiranjeevi added that the campaign has been designed to spread awareness around the globe that 73% of the Himalayan range lies in India. “The Indian Himalayas themselves are a complete destination which can be explored around the year for variety of experiences. The travellers can look towards Indian Himalayas for adventure and skiing in winters; exploring bio-diversity hotspots during the spring; mountaineering expeditions during the summer; and undertaking variety of leisure and cultural activities during autumn,” Chiranjeevi said. Speaking on the occasion, Ashwini Kakkar, Chairman for Mercury Travels Ltd. said that this campaign would highlight the virtues of Himalayan Tourism since this region contained one of the biggest bio-diversity hotspots of the world. The Himalayas was home to 10,000 species of plant life and more than 2000 species of animal life and was the single largest natural asset on the earth.” The Ministry has launched a Himalayan map and a directory of events that would contain the activities to be undertaken during this period of “777 days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas” campaign. A book on safety regulations was also released along with Adventure Travel Association of India (ATAOI). The Ministry also released two short films titled “Greatest Show on the Earth” and “Life Altering Journey”. source: Travel Daily Media, 30 Sept 2013