Siliguri: State govt on Sunday introduced a series of measures aimed at improving the experience of tourists visiting north Bengal, including a helpline mapped to the state’s central tourism helpline, and mandatory registration of hotels, tour operators and tour vehicle drivers.Further, tourism minister Shankar Ghosh said the state would conduct a police recruitment drive to improve emergency response and launch an app to assist travellers. The app may be launched within the next two months, the minister said.Hotels will have to get registered on the National Integrated Database of Hospitality Industry. “We will widely publicise the list of approved service providers so that tourists choose only registered establishments,” Ghosh said.Explaining the need for police recruitment, the minister said: “In many developed states, police can reach the scene of an incident within 20-25 minutes. In Bengal, the average response time is around two-and-a-half to three hours because of workforce shortages.”
