The Maharashtra Government passed a new policy that will encourage tourism in the state. The new ‘Caravan Tourism’ policy will aim towards attracting people to travel safely and reignite the tourism industry which is still recovering from the effect of the pandemic. In India, the tourism sector contributes close to 9% to the GDP which is a very significant share. This sector is also responsible for creating a lot of employment opportunities in the country.
Basically, there are two parts to this policy, caravan and caravan parks. The government of Maharashtra wants the tourists to come out of their home by following all the COVID related guidelines and enjoy the scenic views of Maharashtra. A caravan is a vehicle built specifically for the purpose of travel. It is a means for tourists to have a secondary home while on vacation without staying in hotels and motels. The main advantage of a caravan is that the tourists need not face or come in contact with any other individual. The government is planning to build caravans parks which will have basic amenities like water, electricity and roads and the caravans can stay overnight in these places.
The government will also provide a host of benefits like waiver of stamp and electricity duties, GST refund to the tour operators and more. This policy will also promote tourism in remote places which do not have hotels and motels and with the use of caravans the tourists will be able to stay overnight and enjoy the place. The caravan and the caravan parks will register under the tourism directorate which will aid the promoters in the COVID related hygiene protocols, man management and marketing.
For the renewal of the license, operators will have to pay INR 2,000 meanwhile the registration fee is INR 5,000. This policy will also boost employment in the tourist areas which has taken a major blow in the pandemic era.