Lucknow, Jul 10 (PTI) Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said Uttar Pradesh is becoming the 'Sangam' of nature, culture and adventure and called for expediting efforts to boost immense potential of ecotourism in the state.

He also said that the state government has decided to establish a State Hotel Management Institute spreading over six acres in Gorakhpur and the land for it has been selected.

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"With co-ordinated efforts, today Uttar Pradesh is becoming the 'Sangam' (confluence) of nature, culture and adventure. As per an evaluation, 35 per cent of tourists tend to go for eco-holiday bookings during vacations. This enhances global eco-tourism. Efforts to boost the immense potential of ecotourism in the state have to be expedited," Adityanath said.

"To boost eco-tourism, tourism, irrigation, forests, ayush and rural development departments have to make a joint effort. For this, it will be appropriate to constitute an eco-tourism board in the state," he was quoted in a statement issued by the UP government.

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The board will have ministers of the respective departments, additional chief secretaries/principal secretaries, directors general/directors and also experts. The tourism department will be the nodal department for this, he said.

"Capable officials of the Indian Forest Service should also be given a place in the board and the work to constitute the board should be done at the earliest," the chief minister said.

He also said local youths could be a good option of being engaged as 'nature guide', and for this, the capable youths should be selected, and given proper training.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)