Jorhat, Dec. 4: When it comes to holidays, exotic is in. Ask Canadian Peggie N, who, after backpacking around the world, has reached this sleepy Upper Assam town for the ?ultimate tea party?.

Peggie and over a dozen other tourists from various countries today gathered at the sprawling British-era Gymkhana Club here for the inauguration of the second edition of the Tea Tourism Festival, an event that promises to give visitors not only a taste of the finest tea, but also a peek into the manufacturing process and the unique culture that thrives within the plantations of Assam.

?Tea has made Assam famous worldwide. Now we want to cash in on the culture behind tea to attract tourists,? said chi-ef minister Tarun Gogoi at the inauguration of the festival.

Gogoi said the tourism industry was the world?s biggest employer and Assam, with its unique bio-diversity, had immense potential in this sector. ?The tea industry, too, has a lot to offer to tourists who want a feel of the environment in which this heady brew is born.?

The biggest attraction on the inaugural day of the festival was the presence of Bisanong Singpho, a great grandson of Bisagam, the Singpho tribal chief who offered the ?first cuppa? to Englishman Robert Bruce, leading to the establishment of the first tea plantation in Assam.

?We always knew about the connection between tea and Assam. Meeting Bisanong has made us aware of the history of tea, too,? said Ravindra Kumar, a tourist from Rajasthan.

Bisanong described tea as the ?green diamond? and urged the industry and the government to keep the ?glory of Assam tea? intact.

Bowled over by the first day?s experience, Peggie said she was looking forward to more. ?I have fallen in love with Assam. The people of this state are very friendly,? the Canadian, who is on her seventh visit to Assam, trilled.

Appropriately, a workshop has been organised for the first time to give tourists an insight into the intricate and interesting process of tea tasting.

?We have invited experts to demonstrate how tea is tasted and ranked according to quality,? Prabhat Bezbaruah, a former chairman of the Assam Tea Planters? Association, said.

The festival has been jointly organised by the department of tourism and the tea industry. The Jorhat district administration has made arrangements for tourists to visit tea gardens and the Tocklai Tea Research Station, which is the oldest of its kind in the world.

Minister of state for tourism Misbahul Islam Lashkar said the Taj Group was interested in setting up hotels in the tea belt. ?If that happens, tourism will get a big boost.?

The minister claimed that the flow of tourists had doubled since the government embarked on its promotion campaign. Last year, 22 lakh tourists visited the state, as against 10 lakh until a few years ago.