3 years after the Uttarakhand disaster, Valley of Flowers re-opens for tourists

The long wait is finally over--you can once again travel to the beautiful Valley of Flowers.

article source: India Today - June 02, 2016 

After a wait of three long years since the devastating Uttarakhand floods, the Valley of Flowers has been re-opened for tourists on Wednesday.

According to a report by the Hindustan Times, the popular destination will remain open till the month of October and is expected to attract hordes of tourists this year.

Located at an altitude of 12,000 feet and spread across an area of 87.5 square kilometres, the place attracts travellers from all parts of the world because of its unparalleled natural beauty. The place has around 300 different species of endemic alpine flowers including rare flowers like potentilla, geranium, anemone, lily and the blue Himalayan poppy in full bloom--making for an amazing spectacle for nature lovers.

Following the disaster of 2013, the valley became inaccessible for the next few years and hardly got any visitors for the next few years. But according to Nanda Devi National Park divisional forest officer Chandra Shekhar Joshi, the destination is expected is get a lot more tourists as compared to the previous years.

Two hoteliers from the local town Ghangaria told Hindustan Times that the tourist rush is set to be so high this time that it would make up for the losses they have faced in the last three years. Besides, it will also prove beneficial for the livelihood of the local porters, dhaba owners, horse owners and guides.

Ministry of Tourism Formulates Action Plan for Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme

M/o Tourism Formulates Action Plan for Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme

article source: Press Information Bureau - June 01, 2016

Ministry of Tourism has formulated an Action Plan for “Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme”. The salient features of the Action Plan are as follows:- 

1. As Home Stay / Bed & Breakfast is the need of the hour, it was decided to revisit the scheme guidelines and update it based on present and future requirements. 

2. To ensure expansion of Home Stay Scheme in State where it is already prevalent and introduction where it is not there. 

3. Move towards ease of doing business through rationalization of taxes, simplification of procedures etc. 

4. Launch an aggressive marketing strategy to enlist more B&B Establishments. 5. Involve online travel agents in promoting this scheme and bring it on the fast-track. 

6. Groups were constituted to study various aspects of this scheme and submit recommendations in a time bound manner. 

The Ministry of Tourism organised a Workshop on Incredible India Bed & Breakfast /Home Stay Scheme here on 30th May 2016. It was chaired by Shri Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, M/o Tourism and attended by officials from various State Governments, representatives from Hospitality and Travel Trade Industry, CEOs of online travel agents and officials of the Ministry of Tourism. 

This workshop was conducted with the prime objective of meeting shortage of rooms in accommodation sector – specially the budget category. As construction of hotels has a long gestation period, it was felt that the desired additional hotel capacity can be supplemented substantially by giving impetus to the Incredible India Bed & Breakfast Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism as well as similar schemes run by the State Governments and Online Travel Agents.