Guwahati, Sept. 4: Assam today took a "game-changing" step towards globally branding itself as a tourism destination and introduced several innovative steps - such as setting up homestays near travel hotspots, promoting unexplored areas, engaging foreign tourist consultants and setting up a single-window clearance facility for Bollywood film shoots - to boost footfall into the state.

State tourism minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the government's endeavour has been to promote the state's tourist hotspots.

"Our endeavour began from the run-up to the Ambubachi mela when, for the first time, we advertised (in print media) in languages other than Assamese, English and Hindi," Sarma said during the launch of the Assam Tourism logo, which bore the catchline "Awesome Assam".

"The outcome was evident as more pilgrims from outside the region visited the Kamakhya temple this time. From next year, we will promote the mela in 27 languages because the idea is to sell our resources outside the state," he said.

According to Sarma, the objective of this campaign is to make the state "visible to the outside world".

"We are looking for unique ways to focus on our strengths and take tourism to the villages. We will look to set up between 500 and 700 homestays near hotspots and upload them on websites. Local residents will be groomed in this regard," he said.

Sarma said Rs 15 crore had been allotted to promote tourism in the media.

"We will promote religious tourism by developing infrastructure at Kamakhya and Majuli. We will engage international consultants," the minister said, adding, "For developing Kamakhya's tourist infrastructure alone we have allotted Rs 33 crore and work will start in 10 days. We will also explore ways to promote Haflong and Dima Hasao. I request you to share unexplored spots on social media."

The logo has a one-horned rhinoceros in the backdrop of a sun, tea in the form of two leaves and a bud, the Brahmaputra in blue stripes and the words "Awesome Assam" in green. "We wanted to infuse a youthful feel in the logo so as to attract the new generation. The third generation in Japan might have their forefathers buried here in a war cemetery. Likewise, the new generation in Britain might know about some tea estate here where their forefathers might have worked," the minister said.

Taking a dig at media reports on the appointment of a celebrity as a brand ambassador, the minister chose to differentiate between an ambassador of Assam and that of its tourism. "We want a third party who is famous the world over and who can endorse Assam tourism globally," he said.