Choppers to facilitate 'heli-tourism' in rural Tripura 

Agartala, Aug 25 : The Tripura government has decided to introduce 'heli-tourism' in the state by extending chopper services to promote tourism in the hinterland, a senior official said here Tuesday. 

"To promote rural tourism, we will operate helicopter services to 20 tourism spots in Tripura," said Madhusudhan Bhattacharjee, managing director of Tripura Tourism Development Corp.  

The subsidised fare for the 20 destinations has been fixed between Rs.700 and Rs.1,500.  

The government-owned helicopter services company Pawan Hans has been operating for the past eight years in the interior areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Tripura and Sikkim with the central government subsidising fares by 75 percent.  

In Tripura, the service covers five towns, apart from capital Agartala.  

"The central government will also provide Rs.75 lakh for each heliport that will be developed in different tourism spots across the entire north-eastern region," Bhattacharjee told media.  

In yet another effort to boost the tourism sector, the Tripura government Tuesday also completed a three-day training programme for tourist guides.  

"The Tripura government has undertaken an action programme to widen the scope of employment in the tourism sector," Bhattacharjee said.  

The newly-constituted Tripura Tourism is expanding infrastructure at new tourist spots and improving existing destinations in the state that borders Bangladesh.