Friday, September 28, 2012

Celebrating International Tourism Day at Digha

Here is a picture from the stage in the morning of International Tourism Day at Digha:
We flagged off the day-long celebrations at 9 am from this venue. I lit the lamp and released a dove. On the stage on my left (not in picture) was a German tourist, Veronica, who'd come to Digha the previous evening. Music competition and sit-and-draw competition drew huge crowds, beyond expectation.

The first train from Kolkata came at 10 am. All passengers coming to Digha on that train were offered rose-buds by local school girls. Here is a photo taken minutes before the train came in:
In the afternoon, we tried a new adventure sports in the sea. A group had got water rafts and asked us to try it. Riding on top of waves on flexible rubber raft felt like we were surfing on the wave crests. But we - that is, Soumen Pal EO DSDA, Tejen Som Special Engineer UD and me - got completely drenched in sea water. This was an unscheduled sea-bath, reminiscent of our rainy days in childhood. It was fun and I encouraged the organisers to make it a tourist attraction.
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And here is a clipping from Sakalbela:

10 comments:

  1. Giving rose buds was a nice idea. So was introducing a new adventure sports in the sea.

    Any updates on the Digha projects:

    (a) Ayurvedic Health Centre
    (b) Mega Tourism Hub
    (c) Total Station survey ( Digha - Mandarmani)
    (d) Deer Park
    (e) Aqua Hub in Amravati Park
    (f) Tajpur / Alampur centre

    When are we deciding to complete these projects?

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  2. Saw this Times of India Link: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-28/kolkata/34147110_1_digha-shankarpur-development-authority-coastal-zone-management-programme-world-tourism-day

    Then visited DSDA website : http://www.dsda.gov.in/html/home.php
    To tell you frankly, with such an IT savvy person like you as the head of DSDA, it was disappointing to see even the revamped website is not up to the mark.

    A good number of links are just not working !!!! Links related to "Online hotel booking" is not working, The link of "Why Digha Sankarpur" is also not going anywhere, so is the link "Infrastructure in Digha Sankarpur" , even DSDA statistics talk about 2001 census and not 2011 census !!!!

    Digha Sankarpur sector map is only having a link to Digha map and not Sankarpur, Chandaneshwar, Mandarmani, Junput, Tajpur maps. !!! Photo gallery consists of Photos of under construction toilets and bus stands. To be frank, I was shocked.

    Can we please get some good consultants like ILF&S or Frost & Sullivan to get a quality website designed for both DSDA and Finance Hub ?? If we are planning to do a pan nation wide Shah Rukh Khan promo, this type of website will just not suffice.

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  3. An Asian Govt tourism department website link:
    http://www.tourismthailand.org/campaign/en/

    Can we target to reach at least a website of this level? I think this should not be too ambitious a plan.

    Also some links related to other famous tourist destinations:

    Marseille: http://www.marseille-tourisme.com/en/

    Ibiza Official site: http://www.ibiza.travel/en/

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  4. we are staying at Sunrise point (action area IIC) and we are out of WBSEB power since last evening. And till now, we did get any assurance of power coming back. would request you to intervene and restore the power supply.

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  5. @SD: I saw the post at 5pm, while I was in the car. On way to Writers', I spoke to MD NTESC, CE (Elec) Hidco and Chairman WBSEDCL. A dedicated team was mobilized. The main fault has not yet been diagnosed but a standby temporary power has been somehow mobilized an hour ago...I hope they are able to solve the problem by tomorrow.

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  6. Really prompt action on your part. Thanks on behalf of all citizens. :-)

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  7. thank you for your prompt action. power finally came at night, although some intermittent power cut off, but situation improved on 2nd Oct.

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  8. Bengal Tourism and technology interface and how others are popularising .....
    I must thank this government that web face of bengal has got a see change when I look back even at Industry-friendly Budho era ....Left had like the computer era never got into their head at the right time, both technology interface for customer support and social service ...this concept also never got into their head...I had vsisited all the Govt websites of erstwhile govt and even its ruling parties....The impression then I used to get ....less told is better ....never got a response from any quarter for the emails highlighted... often telephones shown were of earlier man who sat on the chair.....that's how public service and customer service with technology was done....And now in one year....there is a sea change...I can feel....the process is going on....and it's definitely not a one man task and a lot of links need the data templates.....We hope what we missed in last 10-15 years will see that in next 2-3 years..1 year is too short to comment ...we have the best wishes that the best team be at task who work wholeheartedly and for whom office is on wheel. Apart from that, what I want to add here, in addition to @Abhishek, is that various govt and corporates who are sincere about Mam Mati manus are strategically trying to bring the governance close to the PC window... Yes...
    Instance 1: What Melburne is doing in India ? It has tied up with Indiblogger - one of the biggest blogging network in India at
    http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=63 and ask for submission in a virtual tour contest -Quote
    Cosmopolitan, elegant and chic, Melbourne has a passionate soul and a welcoming heart. From thrilling world class events and renowned architecture, to cafĂ© – lined streetscapes and verdant parklands, there’s always something new and exciting to discover in Melbourne.
    Tell us what experiences you would love to bring back from Melbourne and you could win an all–expenses paid vacation to see them come to life. The Prizes - Two winning Blogger get to Visit all expense paid visit to Melburne for a week.5 Gift/shopping vouchers worth Rs 5000. Every participant get a limited edition of Melburne pen drive
    Unquote
    We can do the same for Bengal - some locations....

    Instance 2 : MadhyaPradesh and Maharashtra Tourism dept has come a few step nearer by opening face book account and interacting directly instead of long drawn process other govt are doing. MP has opened in many states single room marketing counter where room booking is facilitated and receipts are issued then and there only

    Instance 3: SBI cards, citi bank, Word Photgraphy,Samsung and many other corporates have linked Facebook and Twitter for customer support as well. One or two call center guys duty is to attend and respond to customer enquiries...these days time and patience are costly...everyone wants everything instantly...and in this race whoever is ahead a bit win a chunk of the market. I have, as a customer, interacted and seen how, these sites are even used in cases of emergencies when the company's main site has been put down for critical maintenance and cannot be up immediately and deadline is falling before the system can be restored. In this times FB, TWitter instructions are just like God sent Aakashbani...Cheers Here is my link for Melburne virtual trip and now I am waiting for the pendrive..
    http://indian-writer.blogspot.in/2012/08/marvellous-melbourne-city-of-fours.html

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