Revival of tourism properties bleak

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, June 19

As the tiff between Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and Cabinet Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu continues, there is no hope of revival of closed tourism installations and infrastructure in the city.

About two years ago after assuming the charge of Tourism Cultural Affairs Ministry, Sidhu had announced to revive defunct state-owned tourist properties.

However, nothing concrete came out. The Tourism Department had sold off most of its properties in the city.

The state government had sold Punjab Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC)-run three-star Amritsar International Hotel to an NRI family at Rs 56 crore in 2007. The 55-room hotel was opened in the late 1980's with amenities like two restaurants, lift, swimming pool and others.

The hotel was ideally situated opposite the ISBT and close to Maha Singh Gate leading to the holiest Sikh shrine, which is about one km from it.

Spread over two-acre of land, the hotel was never renovated, recalled its visitors. The hotel was sold off under the disinvestment policy initiated in 2003 as per which the loss making units were disinvested.

Following this, the PTDC came into being and a new body the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board (PHTPB) was constituted.

Ironically, the number of private hotels has increased sharply in all these years. Availability of all categories of rooms in the hospitality sector was not more than 2,500 in 2007, which has more than doubled now.

Another loss to the city was dismantling of the Youth Hostel on the GT Road which had now been converted into International Bus Terminal. Since then the city never got a youth hostel where youngsters from the rest of the country were given rooms at affordable rates.

Similarly, the state government had handed over tourist facility centre at the ICP-- Aman Umeed Bhawan-- formerly known as Neem Chameli, and 10 acres of land around it to the Central government, after the latter requested for the same.

In return, the Ministry of Home Affairs had given 12.5 acres land across the road to the state government to raise a state-of-the-art tourist reception centre.