The Alipurduar district administration and stakeholders of the tourism industry have drawn up plans to popularise eastern Dooars, which is mostly spread across the district, to augment the footfall of tourists in the region.

On one hand, the administration has decided to launch a slogan competition that would denote the district. On the other hand, those associated with the tourism sector have joined hands to organise a marathon to make eastern parts of the Dooars more popular. They have also identified certain destinations of the district that would be offered to tourists as integrated circuits during the ensuing Durga Puja season.

“We have launched the slogan competition and received many interesting slogans for the Alipurduar district. In due course, we will select one of the slogans which would be used for the district. The idea is to aware tourists of the different destinations which are here. Even now, we feel, vast areas of the eastern Dooars remain unexplored and there is every opportunity to increase the inflow of tourists here,” said Alipurduar district magistrate R. Vimala.

She mentioned that Kalimpong, a hill district in north Bengal, is being promoted as “Ramailo” Kalimpong. Ramailo, a Nepali word, means, enjoyment or amusement.

“There should be a similar slogan for Alipurduar. It will help in the promotion of the district,” she added.

Sources in the administration said they had put a QR code in the advertisement. Anybody interested can scan the code and upload the slogan.

“We will receive entries till August 12. There are cash rewards of ₹5,000 and ₹3,000 for the two top slogans which would be selected through the contest,” said a source.

Those associated with the tourism industry said most of the tourists visiting the Dooars know about Lataguri, the most popular destination that is on the fringes of Gorumara National Park in Jalpaiguri.

“So far as eastern Dooars is concerned, most of the people know about Jaldapara National Park and Buxa Tiger Reserve. There are many other places in the district but hardly a few people know about these places,” said a representative of Eastern Dooars Tourism Development Association.

Ahead of the Durga Puja, the association has planned to showcase many locations including Jaldapara, Shishamara, Kodalbusty, Chilapata, Rajabhatkhawa, Raimatang, Jainti, Jaigaon, Bhutanghat, Phaskhawa, Kumargram, Hatipota and the Buxa Fort.

“We are also promoting Manas and Raimona, two forests in the neighbouring state of Assam, which are easily accessible from here,” he added.

The Association for Conservation & Tourism (ACT) will organise a marathon to popularise eastern Dooars. On July 28, around 250 runners will run through the wild terrains of eastern Dooars to promote tourism as well as a drug-free and healthy lifestyle.

The ACT representatives said it will be a 25-kilometre-long marathon that will start near the Jaldapara tourist lodge in Madarihat of Alipurduar district and will end at Falakata, another town in the same district. There will be two more races — 5km and 10km.

“We want to promote the entire Dooars region to tourists. There are national parks and wildlife sanctuaries which are known for biodiversity. This is the first time that such an initiative has been taken in eastern Dooars. We expect the participants, who will congregate here from different parts of the country, will enjoy the landscape and promote the region in their respective places,” said Raj Basu, convener of the ACT.