The beautiful hill resort of Darjeeling inaugurated Tea and Tourism Festival will much fanfare. The festival that aims to boost tourism in Darjeeling was attended by the several Bollywood stars.
The 17 day festival is organized by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) to revive tourism in Darjeeling. The agitation over Gorkhaland by the same party caused the collapse of tourism industry in Darjeeling.
Zeenat Aman was one of the stars present at the opening day of the event. She certainly brought the crowd to its feet by dancing on the tunes of "Dum Maro Dum", one of her most popular song ever. She thanked the people of Darjeeling for their hospitality and urged Bollywood filmmakers to shoot more movies in this beautiful hill resort.
Mahima Chaudhary also showed her love for Darjeeling and together with Zeenat Aman took part in the parade by walking few meters together. The parade was one of the main event on the first day.
North Bengal development minister Gautam Deb promised to convert Darjeeling into Switzerland. He said that this festival is the first step towards that. The festival will continue till January 5 and is perfect time for tourists to visit Darjeeling. Lots of activities are being offered to tourists like paragliding, river rafting and kayaking. Besides almost all hotels in Darjeeling are offering discount throughout the festival.
Tea and Tourism Festival by Gorkha Janmukti Morcha is an effort to increase tourist season in Darjeeling that usually ends in December. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha wants to increase season by late January to early part of February.
Source: http://www.easydestination.net/blog/index.php?itemid=2548