Gujarat will use sports events, village homestays, cultural festivals and film tourism to expand its tourism ecosystem during 2026-27, which the state has designated as the ‘Gujarat Tourism Year’. The programme includes new visitor infrastructure, a digital film-permission system and efforts to connect local events with tourism circuits.
Deputy Chief Minister Harsh Sanghavi announced the initiatives at a World Tourism Day event at GIFT City on Sunday. He said global fitness events would be used to promote sports tourism, with HYROX scheduled in Gandhinagar from November 26 to 28. More than 1,000 foreign athletes and around 10,000 visitors are expected to participate, according to the announcement. An Ironman event is also scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad on February 14.
The sports events are part of a wider plan that brings tourism policy into contact with urban services such as accommodation, transport, restaurants, event venues and digital ticketing. The state has signed eight MoUs covering sports tourism, digital ticketing, technology, education and skill development. The partnerships involve HYROX and Ironman, BookMyShow, Kutch University, Ahmedabad Management Association, SVNIT, Kaushal-The Skill University, Tata STRIVE and the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India.
Sanghavi also launched the official logo for Gujarat Tourism Year and the Gujarat Film Shooting Permission portal. The single-window digital platform is intended to make permissions and no-objection certificates for film shoots faster and more transparent. Its implementation places the state’s tourism and administrative departments at the centre of a process that typically involves multiple permissions and government agencies.
The state will also select 100 villages under its new homestay policy. The planned homestays are intended to retain traditional character while providing modern facilities, linking rural tourism with local accommodation and community-based visitor services. The announcement did not specify the selection criteria, funding available to individual hosts or the timeline for completing the village programme.
The government also plans to provide gap funding to tour operators to attract international visitors to festivals including Navratri, Uttarayan and Kawant Holi. The proposed support will also cover eco-tourism destinations such as Dharoi reservoir and Shivrajpur. By linking festivals and destinations with tour operators, the state is seeking to widen tourism beyond established urban and heritage sites, although the announcement did not provide details of the funding mechanism or eligibility conditions.
Sanghavi urged hotels, restaurants, tour operators and transport providers to focus collectively on cleanliness, health and soft-spoken skills to improve visitors’ experience. That emphasis points to the service network surrounding tourism rather than only the creation of attractions. The next stage will depend on how the announced events, village homestays, film portal and funding support are implemented across the state during Gujarat Tourism Year.
