To boost farm tourism and attract more tourists from India and abroad, the Haryana Tourism Department plans to promote farm houses during the annual Surajkund International Crafts Mela, which will be held from February 1 to 15 at Surajkund in Faridabad.
Haryana Tourism Secretary Sumita Misra recently met owners of farm house registered under the Farm Tourism Scheme of the Haryana Tourism Department. It was attended by Sandeep Garg, Managing Director of the Haryana Tourism Corporation and other senior officers of the Department. The meeting saw detailed discussions being held with the farm house owners to make concerted efforts to attract more tourists, especially foreigners.
At present, 14 farm houses are registered with the Tourism Department under the scheme, which are mostly in the National Capital Region.
These farm houses present an experience that is true to India, rich in traditions. A tourist here lives close to nature and gets a hands-on feel of milking a cow, ploughing a field and bathing under a tubewell.
Besides promoting farm houses during the Surajkund mela, Dr. Misra also stressed on the need to upgrade these in a way that shooting crews are attracted to these places. Dr. Misra further emphasised that farm owners should create and provide literature or printed material and CDs for aggressively promoting their activities.
Satinder Sharma of “Awesome Farm” on the Faridabad-Sohna road said they were happy with the support extended by the Haryana Tourism Department.
Pardeep Kumar of “Pratapgarh Farms” in Jhajjar, said: “Many school groups and corporate sector employees visit us as they get an opportunity to connect with their roots.”
Dr. Misra also said that farm house owners in the state could get themselves registered under the Farm Tourism scheme once they have an agricultural holding of three to four acres with a minimum of two rooms that can be given out on rent, along with organising rural activities for tourists.
