Sikkim Tourism Policy 2018 unveiled

Gangtok (Sikkim), Aug 18, 2018:

Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling unveiled the long-awaited “Sikkim Tourism Policy 2018” on the occasion of Independence Day.

The task of drafting the policy was entrusted to WWF- India and Ecotourism and Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS) by the Tourism and Civil Aviation Department.

The policy is an outcome of a long-drawn participatory process comprising of a series of brainstorming and successive meetings with tourism stakeholders, scholars, experts and officers from various line departments.

The draft tourism policy was also put up for comments on the Tourism Department’s website to seek inputs from the public, after which the suggestions were reviewed and incorporated into the final draft. The National Tourism Policy, 2002 and the tourism policies of other States were also consulted while preparing the draft.

Tourism in Sikkim has seen tremendous growth in the past few decades with total tourist arrivals touch 14.25 lakh in 2017. Today, tourism has emerged as a key sector of the State economy and the Sikkim Human Development Report, 2014 has recognised tourism as one of the potential sectors for growth and livelihood creation.