Gandhinagar: Gujarat will seek to expand its tourism ecosystem through sports events, village homestays, cultural festivals and cinematic tourism as the state celebrates 2026-27 as the ‘Gujarat Tourism Year’.Speaking at a World Tourism Day event at GIFT City on Sunday, deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi said global fitness events such as HYROX and Ironman will be used to promote sports tourism in the state. HYROX is scheduled in Gandhinagar from Nov 26 to 28, with more than 1,000 foreign athletes and around 10,000 visitors expected to participate. An Ironman event is also scheduled in Ahmedabad on Feb 14.Sanghavi also launched the official logo of Gujarat Tourism Year and the Gujarat Film Shooting Permission portal. The single-window digital portal is aimed at making permissions and NOCs for film shoots faster and more transparent.He urged hotels, restaurants, tour operators and transport providers to collectively focus on “cleanliness, health and soft-spoken skills” to improve visitors’ experience. He also stressed linking cultural festivals and local events with tourism.Sanghavi said that under the new homestay policy, 100 villages will be selected for developing homestays that retain traditional character while providing modern facilities. Govt also plans to offer gap funding to tour operators to attract international visitors to festivals such as Navratri, Uttarayan and Kawant Holi, as well as eco-tourism destinations including Dharoi reservoir and Shivrajpur.Eight MoUs were signed during the event covering sports tourism, digital ticketing, technology, education and skill development. These included partnerships involving HYROX and Ironman, BookMyShow, Kutch University, Ahmedabad Management Association, SVNIT, Kaushal-The Skill University, Tata STRIVE and EDII.
