Jerina Wangchuk Lepcha, Gangtok 21 Mar:
Sikkim United Tourism Organisation (SUTO) has backed the State Government’s plans to introduce the Tourism Sustainable Development Fee of Rs 50 per tourist.
Addressing a press conference here today, Ganesh Sewakoti, the SUTO president, highlighted that the Tourism Trade Act was first enacted in 1998, and more recently, the Sikkim Registration of Tourist Trade Rules, 2025, was introduced with the Sustainable Development Fee coming into force on 14 March.
Mr Sewakoti stressed that TSDF was planned with the interest of the stakeholders in mind and with their consent, and emphasised that TSDF is not a burden on a tourist and is instead an investment to make for a better experience.
“TSDF is beneficial for the state as with the collected funds, we can focus on making better infrastructure to enhance tourist experiences, capacity building, and especially for better data collection to regulate and improve tourism sector,” he said.
