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The WBFDC cottages in Loleygaon, which are a big hit with the tourists. Picture by Chinlop Fudong Lepcha

Kalimpong, Dec. 6: Eco-tourism initiatives have conquered the hill winter, continuing to fill the coffers of the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation (WBFDC) even during what is otherwise called the lean season.

M.S. Murli, divisional manager, Kalimpong forest division, said winter bookings in all its 11 tourist facilities in the subdivision have been very encouraging this year. “We hope to do business worth about Rs 40 lakh this winter. We made Rs 85 lakh in the last fiscal, and hope to cross Rs 1 crore this year,” Murli added.

The corporation has most of its wilderness camps and nature resorts in the Kalimpong subdivision, all located in the pristine middle and lower hill forests. The latest place to be brought on its tourism radar is Paren, near the Bhutan border, about 110 km from Siliguri.

“We have two cottages there, and are constructing another two. They should be operational by next summer,” said Murli. The WBFDC also has resorts in Gorubathan, Jaldhaka, Lava, Loleygaon, Mongpong, Samsing, Rongpo and a few other places.

All these spots are already very popular with domestic tourists and now the corporation is looking to woo foreigners. For this, the WBFDC recently hosted a team of tour operators from Delhi to acquaint them with the places.

“All the operators who were here cater to high-end foreign tourists. They were very impressed with the locations and the facilities available there. They will be getting back to our managing director very soon,” Murli said.

Besides foreign tourists, the corporation is also targeting corporate clientele. “We have constructed spacious conference rooms at our resorts in Lava and Loleygoan which can be used to hold corporate meetings. These rooms even have LCD projectors for power-point presentations,” the divisional manager said.

Environmentalists, however, have cautioned the corporation against going overboard. “As long as the WBFDC sticks to its stated objective of encouraging regulated tourism without leaving any scar on the environment, it should not be anybody’s problem,” said one of them.