While inaugurating the Madhya Pradesh Travel Mart in Bhopal, the Chief Minister of the state Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that Madhya Pradesh aims to become the number one tourism state in India. He said that the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Madhya Pradesh- Khajuraho, Sanchi and Bhim Bhetka along with several world famous national parks makes it a potential tourist destination. The government is developing infrastructure facilities and building new tourist circuits to attract more foreign tourists along with Indian ones.

A Buddhist University at Sanchi has been opened by MP government where students from all over the world can come to pursue education. MP government has divided the state into 16 tourism zones which offer exemption from stamp duties, registration fees for tourism projects along with luxury and entertainment taxes for a stretch of 10 years. The government is also offering 35% capital investment subsidy to heritage hotels, 10% to budget hotels on government land 20% on private land. With the implementation of all these tourism policies and amendments, MP hopes to be the number one tourist state in India. At present, Madhya Pradesh is the sixth largest tourism state in India.