Leaving no stone unturned to attract as many tourists and pilgrims as possible to Tirthraj Prayag during Ardh Kumbh fair in January next, the Tourism Department has almost completed the task of spreading the significance of this religious extravaganza.
"Pamphlets have been distributed in all the states through various agencies and those across the globe have been accessed through the embassies where the pamphlets have been sent in bulks," said RK Yadav, regional tourist officer.
The pamphlet-cum-booklet consist of four pages which has all the information regarding the tourist spots of the city such as Sangam, Allahabad fort, Hanuman temple, Shankar Viman Mandapam, Mankameshwar, Venimadhav temple, Nagvasuki temple, Alopidevi temple, Bhardwaj Ashram, Chandrashekhar Azad Park, Anand Bhawan, Allahabad University and other important places.
The main tourist spots and places of pilgrimage of Jhusi and Arail area have also been mentioned besides the places in the vicinity along with the exact distance from the city.
"We have also provided the phone numbers of the officials so that the tourists could directly contact us in case of any problem," said Yadav. These booklets will be distributed at all the tourist information centres set up by the department such as the bus stations, railway stations and Sangam area. "The information centres will remain open for 16 hours from 6 am to 10 pm daily while during the days of shahi snans, they will remain open for 24 hours," said the officer.
To avoid any cheating by the hotel owners, the department has made it compulsory for them to print the rates of the rooms in English and Hindi at their reception counters. "We have instructed them to fix the rent of the room on the first day of the month and to change them only in the next month.
{{/usCountry}}To avoid any cheating by the hotel owners, the department has made it compulsory for them to print the rates of the rooms in English and Hindi at their reception counters. "We have instructed them to fix the rent of the room on the first day of the month and to change them only in the next month.
{{/usCountry}}This is to avoid any cheating as often witnessed during the crisis period when the hoteliers raise the rent," added Yadav.
Besides, the bookings for the Swiss cottages being set up in the mela area will take place from January 1. Pure vegetarian food will be served at the restaurant set up there which will be accessible to the outsiders also.
A photo exhibition is also being set up which will carry the photographs of regional tourist spots.
"The exhaustive information about the city's pilgrimage and tourism is available at the website www.up-tourism.co," added Yadav.