Aurangabad, Nov 10:
The Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation ( ATDF) has submitted a memorandum to the chief minister Uddhav Thackeray and urged him to direct the local administration to re-open the heritage monuments in and around the city. The association urged to revive the tourism industry and re-open the monuments for tourists with full Covid - 19 safety, hygiene standards and social distancing norms.
The memorandum requested the CM to instruct the divisional commissioner and the district collector to re-open the monuments in and around Aurangabad with all Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place and save livelihoods of thousands of dependants on tourism on priority, like other states.
The ATDF office-bearers including the chairman of Public Relations & Civil Aviation Committee, Sunit Kothari and Jaswant Singh through memorandum brought into the notice of the CM that the tourism industry had collapsed due to closure of heritage monuments and absence of domestic and international tourists in the city for the past seven months.
Aurangabad is the tourism capital of Maharashtra. The livelihoods of owners and staff working in Hotels and Restaurants, Car and Coach rental companies, Tour Operators, Travel Agents, Guides, Drivers, Cleaners, Souvenir shop sellers, Artisans and Craftsmen, Handicraft and Handloom product manufacturers, Performing Artists, Musicians, Technicians, Highway food selling outlets etc. had come to a grinding halt as they are fully dependant upon tourist arrivals. The financial savings of all tourism stakeholders have been fully exhausted and are finding it difficult to sustain their livelihood by each passing day.
The tourism service providers will adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) after re-opening of the monuments. ATDF also mentioned the opening of the Taj Mahal in Agra with all precautions and measures. Several other states had also re-opened the monuments in their jurisdiction.
The foundation appreciated the efforts being taken by the state government in unlocking the situation (in phases) by allowing Airlines, Hotels, Restaurants, Malls, Shops, Offices, Industries, Cinema Theatres etc. to re-open with safety guidelines in place. Hence, urged to revive the tourism sector on priority to resume its business and serve tourists.