Let no potential tourist return disappointed.

This motto in mind, the government has recently joined hands with nine private hotels in places where it has no tourist lodges. Reservations can be made at the hotels at Tourism Centre, the government tourist office in BBD Bag.

Reservations can already be made at eight private hotels from the West Bengal Tourism Development Corporation (WBTDC) office. Pacts have been inked with nine more hotels and talks are on with the tenth.

?We hope to start making reservations at the new hotels in three to four days,? said a WBTDC official on Tuesday.

WBTDC marketing manager Amitava Ghosh stated: ?We have done this primarily to ensure that those who visit the Tourism Centre for booking rooms in hotels and lodges in places where we do not have a set-up, do not have to be turned away.?

Another senior official added: ?It is a matter of being more professional. Many people are not sure whether a particular destination has a government tourist lodge or not. Customers who come to us for booking package tours often do not know one of their stops does not have a government set-up. It isn?t good to repeatedly turn away these people.?

Collaboration with private hotels had been started a few years ago, but the government only recently decided to expand the scope of the project. A private hotel in Taki could soon make the list of partner hotels longer.

?The idea is to offer several facilities under one roof. We already offer package tours, air tickets, city tours and even safaris to the Sunderbans,? explained Ghosh.

Reservations at the 25 tourist lodges across the state can also be made at the BBD Bag office. Jaldapara, Santiniketan, Kalimpong and Diamond Harbour are some of the popular destinations. Reservations at forest department lodges can also be made at the office.

?Initially, reservations at the private hotels can be made only from the Tourism Centre. We hope to offer the facility at our Siliguri office at a later date,? signed off a tourism department official.