The Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) has said it will do aggressive promotion to recover the loss to tourism in Assam owing to the unprecedented protests over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.

“The tourism industry in Assam has suffered massive losses of nearly Rs 1,000 crore in the violence during protests against the CAA. As normality is returning, ATDC expects to slowly start recovering from February onwards. We have also launched an online campaign with Google for another six months. There will be montages and video clips circulated worldwide on all popular social media platforms by Google promoting Assam tourism,” said the chairman of the ATDC, Jayanta Malla Baruah, after flagging off the 3rd Punyadham Yatra, on Sunday.

Baruah said aggressive promotion is needed to showcase the rich heritage of the state and attract tourists.

He said from February 1, Awesome Assam and its logo will be introduced on the train tickets of 10 railway divisions of India as part of the campaign.

“Tourists will come only if the situation is peaceful. Peace is returning slowly. We are organising road shows and cultural events in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Goa and Chennai on January 27, 29 and February 7 and 9 to attract people,” Baruah said.

In Assam, the peak season for the tourism industry starts in December and lasts till March-April.

Baruah said, “Assam, which usually enjoys a high footfall of both domestic and foreign tourists starting from December, has witnessed tourists cancelling their hotel and travel bookings due to fear triggered by violence during the protests.”

The first batch of pilgrims of Punnyadham Yatra, that included 46 pilgrims, among whom 24 women, 20 men and two guides started their journey on

Sunday on the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi SVDK Express and they will arrive here on January 26.

Jagannath Temple in Odisha, Mathura-Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh, Ajmer Sarif Dargah in Rajasthan and Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir as part of this package.