Those associated with the tourism industry, including tour operators, hoteliers and car rental services in the state, get very little share of the revenue generated by tourism as most tourists of the state opt for spots outside Bengal.

So the tourism department has decided to review the situation and to take immediate steps to improve the condition of inbound tourism.

?It is true that many tourists from Bengal are keen to visit destinations outside the state rather than explore natural beauty here itself. Except for the growing popularity of the Sunderbans, not many tourists visit spots in the state included in our packages,? said Mihir Sengupta, director of state tourism.

As a remedial measure the tourism department has initiated a process of privatisation where the maintenance of tourist spots and development of new ones have been entrusted to private hands.

According to the department?s estimate, about 13 million people were struck by wanderlust last year. ?This includes tourists in this state as well. About 800,000 foreign tourists had visited the state last year.? Sengupta added.

But the department has neither any data on the number of tourists who visited destinations outside the state nor the number of people who visited tourist spots in this state.

?Although we have no official data on this but going by our day-to-day experience, the number of local tourists visiting local tourist destinations is on the decline. Tourists demand better infrastructure and facilities. The guest houses are running at a loss. As there are few workers we cannot offer better service to tourists. Hence the move for privatisation,? said a senior officer of the tourist department.

Officers hoped that apart from modernisation of the tourist centres with private help vigorous marketing and publicity will give a boost to intra-state tourism.