A grab from the website

Ranchi, Sept. 4: Those planning to visit Jharkhand can make a start with a virtual tour.

The state tourism department has re-launched its website jharkhandtourism.in. The objective is simple — becoming more accessible to tourists around the world. The user-friendly site is vibrant, much like the state, and is loaded with information on important districts, places of interest and the diverse culture of Jharkhand.

“In the past few years, the inflow of foreign tourists had drastically gone down. But we are happy to announce the website. I am sure it will be of great help for those coming here. It’s a good source of information for any tourist and all is official,” said director of state tourism department, Bimal Choudhary, while talking to The Telegraph.

Further, the director of tourism said that after re-designing the website, they are getting a good number of hits, too.

As per the figure collected from the state tourism department, the number of foreign tourists visiting Jharkhand in 2008 was 5,803 as compared to 4,000 in 2007.

The department is expecting good response in 2009. “We recently welcomed tourists at Jonha Falls from Korea, USA and Bhutan,” the director informed.

Besides, the department is also targeting tourists from within the country. Information on travel routes, religious destinations and places of historical importance is appealing to the Indian traveller as well. One such avid tourist Sanjay Kumar, employed with a private firm in the city, said that he was overwhelmed to see the photo gallery, which he said, was very well-designed.

“In fact, now I am planning to visit some tourists places with my family. Earlier, I was reluctant to move out fearing Naxalites, but after visiting the site, I have changed my mind,” Kumar said.

Another frequent traveller Heera Chand Shandilya employed with the State Bank of India, Ranchi, was happy to get instant information on the tour packages from the site. “Tourist places like Netarhat, Dasam Falls and Sun Temple are quite affordable. In Jharkhand, those with a small budget can enjoy too,” Shandilya said. “Plus, we can make online payments, which makes it so much more easier to plan travel,” he added.

The re-designing of the website is a strong measure to promote tourism, but that’s not all on the agenda.

“Our department has also installed information kiosks and touch screen monitors at the airport and the project building for easy access to information,” the director said.

Discovering Jharkhand is now a click away. With access to video galleries, special uploads on YouTube and all details on festivals, cuisine and hotel bookings, the tourism department surely has a winner.