Himachal Pradesh to set up tourist security force, heli-taxi services

According to an IANS report, Himachal Pradesh (HP) will set up a tourist security force in order to assist and guide tourists and also heli-taxi services, with the help of Central Financial Assistance. This information was divulged by Manisha Nanda, State Tourism Secretary, while addressing an inter-state regional conference of Tourism Ministers in New Delhi recently. “A draft proposal for the formation of the tourist security force has been prepared. For this, the Union Tourism Ministry has to provide liberal financial assistance,” said an official statement. Nanda said that the tourist security force will act as a bridge between tourists and the local police. For the heli-taxi services, HP government has sought Central assistance to kick-start the tourism project and utilise the 57 helipads in remote and inaccessible areas of the hilly state.

On the hospitality front, Nanda said the government has exempted the home stay scheme from Value Added Tax (VAT) and electricity and water supply are being billed at cheaper domestic tariffs to promote rural tourism and to diversify it to new areas to decongest over-saturated destinations.