The hill state of Uttarakhand, a state in northern India crossed by the Himalayas, plans to develop 13 tourism projects in its 13 districts.

1. The goal of the projects is to move tourism from negative pitfalls due to COVID-19 to a broader and more positive flow of visitors.

2. Funding for these projects is being sought from the government as well as private development agencies.

3. As is happening around the globe, tourism is now seeking to avoid overcrowding and provide healthy tourist options.

The 13 districts of Uttarakhand are Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Champawat, Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Pauri, Pithoragarh, Rudraprayag, Tehri, Udham Singh Ngar, and Uttarkashi. A tulip garden in the Chamoli district and Astro Park are some of the targeted projects.

In recent times in India, as is happening elsewhere, the focus has been on looking at tourism from a healthy standpoint and avoiding pitfalls of the past due to COVID-19 and all its ramifications and impacts. Uttarakhand is one of the latest states to look at tourism from a macro-holistic angle so that the impacts of tourism remain positive.

The goal is to spread the projects to different areas so that tourism overcapacity may be alleviated. Doing will should help remove the concentration of tourists from existing destinations, according to senior tourism officials.