GUWAHATI: Tourism in Assam is poised to enter a new phase with Assam Tourism Development Corporation’s (ATDC’s) collaboration with Instagram to promote tourism for the State with a formal unveiling of the hashtag #AwesomeAssam by Instagram on Saturday here at Guwahati.
An exhibition has also been organised showing selected photographs of Assam already posted in Instagram along with a workshop for tourism stakeholders for making best use of Instagram’s power of visual storytelling.
Assam known for the Brahmaputra, the Kaziranga National Park, religious and spiritual monuments and tea estates, has much more to offer, that lies unexplored by domestic and international travellers.
The ATDC Jayanta Malla Baruah said, “Assam is one of the most beautiful states of India and Government is investing significantly to attract tourists to the state. Assam Tourism has in the past few years launched a massive publicity and promotion campaign under the name and tag of “Awesome Assam”. All media of advertising and publicity have been utilised to showcase Assam as one of the most exotic tourist destinations of the country. Assam Tourism has also stepped into digital and social media platforms to highlight its products. We especially want to have an active conversation with today’s youth, and we want to do it in a visual-first manner. This led us to Instagram, as the community is thriving with people who’re young, adventurous, experimental and expressive. We’re thankful for their partnership and hopeful for future support in not just promoting tourism for the state, but also to engage with the business communities here.”
Commenting on this collaboration, Tara Bedi, Public Policy and Community Outreach Manager, Instagram, said ‘Instagram is an integral part of tourism in today’s digital age. When people travel, they post their adventures on Instagram and those stories inspire others. Instagram’s power of visual storytelling enables businesses to drive awareness with highly engaged communities and to reach the right audience. We’re glad to partner with ATDC and help promote Assam as an incredible Indian travel destination for Indian and international travellers.”
The ATDC chairman also made a clarion call to everyone to take a positive vibe towards Assam’s enchanting beauty and to take steps digitally to promote our state and thus to attract more tourists towards Assam.
The Instagram workshop that was organized as part of the partnership, saw attendance from tour operators, hoteliers, homestay owners, academicians, students, local food & handicraft entrepreneur, to understand how Instagram can be used for communicating their business’s unique story, connect with people who have similar passions, communicate easily with other customers and businesses, and how they can grow their businesses using the platform.
Recently, Instagram also concluded the Counter Speech Fellowship in Guwahati, in association with Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC), as part of Instagram’s efforts to be the safest and kindest platform for teens to express themselves.