Suvendu Adhikari unveils new West Bengal tourism logo, plans ₹500 crore sector boost

West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Friday unveiled a new tourism logo and brand identity, announcing plans to invest around ₹500 crore in the sector and improve infrastructure, connectivity and tourist facilities across the state.

“We have destroyed the tourism infrastructure in our state even as other states have moved forward. Tourists pass through West Bengal to reach Sikkim. More than Darjeeling and Kalimpong they prefer Gangtok. We have to come out of this,” he said.

Addressing a programme after unveiling the new logo, he said, “We are strengthening the state tourism development corporation. Discussions have been held at the state secretariat. We have allocated around ₹500 crore for the tourism sector in the (2026-2027) budget. Steps are being taken to increase the manpower.”

He also said that plans were afoot to renovate the tourist lodges and guest houses in the state, adding that there was also a need to improve connectivity to tourist destinations.

“We are exploring on how to boost tourism in the state with funds from the centre. A decision was taken to introduce water metro in the River Hooghly. We are in the process of procuring at least 11 boats which would ferry tourists to Sunderbans and Ganga Sagar. These boats would also come handy during disasters,” he said.

Adhikari also said tigers would be released in Buxa Tiger Reserve on October 2 as part of efforts to boost tourism in north Bengal.

A tiger was spotted at Buxa Tiger Reserve in December 2021 after almost two decades, forest officials had said. Officials had said that even though they could find scats and pugmarks of tigers in the tiger reserve in the early 2000s, the last photographic evidence dates back to the late 1990s.