Uttarakhand to host International Yoga Festival this October

Kolkata, Aug 19 (UNI) With an aim to project Uttarakhand as a spiritual tourism spot and boost its economy, the state will hold an International Yoga Festival between October 28 and 30.

Talking to mediapersons at the Indian Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) here today, Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Prakash Pant said the three-day festival would hold yoga and meditation sessions at Hardwar in which Baba Ramdev and Shri Shri Ravi Shankar would teach the tourists about healthy living.

Mr Pant said the states would be hosting the South Asian Federations Games 2009 at Auli and Dehradun.

Besides, the government is also stressing on Adventure Tourism with river rafting facilities for all seasons.

''We are also planning to have an artificial ice rink hall by this year,'' Mr Pant said adding that the government has decided to develop 110 trekking destinations. The state which won the CNBC's Best Heritage and Culture Destination Award and the CNBC Best Religious Destination Award this year, has witnessed a spurt in tourist traffic since it achieved statehood.

Last year, the number of tourists who visited the state was 1,94,000,00, out of which 96,000 were foreign tourists.

The goverment had also started a master plan for infrastructural development of Chardham Yatra route to promote religious tourism.

The Centre has alloted Rs 92 crore to develop wildlife tourism, heritage tourism, adventure tourism, ecotourism and medicinal tourism.

''We want that our tourists should return as a pilgrim,'' Mr Pant said.

The state has six wildlife sactuaries and a same number of national parks, 83 Himalayan Peaks for expedition of mountain lovers, 11 natural lakes, including the Mansarovar and Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve which had been declared as a heritage site by UNESCO.

UNI