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As India slips into its cooler months, November through February, tourism begins to hum again. This is the peak season as families plan long weekends, spiritual seekers venture out, and nature enthusiasts chase misty mornings and clear skies.
For decades, India’s tourism narrative was shaped by its coastlines, its mountains, and its metros. Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, the Himalayan belt, these felt like the ‘obvious’ choices. In contrast, Madhya Pradesh, despite sitting squarely at the country’s centre, struggled with a distinctive identity. It was rich, diverse, historically dense, yet somehow under-told.
But the past two decades have rewritten that storyline. MP has emerged as one of India’s fastest-growing tourism regions. The state recorded over 13.3 crore tourist visits in 2024–25 as per its tourism department data, marking a surge that reflects not just post-pandemic travel energy but the result of years of consistent brand-building, better experiences, and memorable storytelling.
And at the heart of this transformation lies a tagline that changed everything: Hindustan ka Dil Dekho.
Let’s take a look at how MP Tourism built a brand that reintroduced India to its own heart.
The birth of “Hindustan ka Dil Dekho”
The turning point arrived in the mid-2000s, when the Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board partnered with Ogilvy & Mather to craft a new identity for the state. The result was a line that would go on to become one of India’s most enduring tourism taglines: “Hindustan ka Dil Dekho.” It was a positioning statement that reintroduced MP as the emotional centre of the country, a place where India’s history, spirituality and wilderness converge. It leveraged MP’s geography, sitting squarely in the heart of India. But it also tapped into the state’s cultural density, its sacred towns, its old forests, its layered stories.
While tourism marketing is often leaned on beaches, glamour or snow-lined mountains, MP decided to bare its soul.
This philosophy took shape visually through the campaign’s first iconic film, built around the metaphor of a bioscope. The viewer is invited to look through a peep-show lens as MP’s landscapes unfold like moving illustrations, temples, forests, ghats, wildlife, tribes, each frame crafted as a moment of quiet revelation. The treatment felt less like an ad and more like a cinematic postcard. Accompanied by the positioning phrase “The Heart of Incredible India,” the film set the tone for everything MP Tourism would build in the years to come.
Behind this shift was Ogilvy, with Piyush Pandey’s influence shaping much of the creative direction, as widely recounted. Instead of leaning on celebrities, the default route for many tourism boards at the time, the campaign let MP’s own character take centre stage. The storytelling was anchored in the textures of the state itself: raw landscapes, intricate temples, vast forests and everyday moments that felt lived-in.
The campaigns that followed
With the foundation laid, the next decade saw MP Tourism consistently refine and reinvent its storytelling.
The second wave arrived in 2008 with “Hindustan ka Dil Dekha,” a campaign that shifted the focus from geography to perception. Here, sight became the storytelling device. The film, set to a poetic, music-led narration, unfolded through the expressions of a woman traveller, her eyes widening with each discovery.
By this point, the brand had grown confident in its texture and voice. In 2010 came the now-iconic “MP Ajab Hai, Sabse Gajab Hai,” a campaign that swapped glossy visuals for something raw and folk-inspired. Using the traditional art of hand shadowgraphy, the film recreated MP’s forts, monuments and wildlife entirely out of hand-formed silhouettes. The shadows themselves became narrators, evoking a sense of mystery, craft and childhood fascination.
MP Tourism even released a “making of” film, which revealed the artisanal precision behind its playful surface.
The campaign struck a deep chord, tourist arrivals surged from 1.1 crore in 2006 to 5.3 crore by 2012.
The momentum continued in 2013 with “Sau Rang,” a burst of chromatic energy inspired by India’s tradition of greeting with colours. The campaign opened like a Holi greeting, clouds of pigment swirling towards the viewer, before settling into vivid portraits of MP’s landmarks: Kanha’s tigers emerging from sunlit yellows, Khajuraho’s sculptures shaped in earthy reds, Mandu’s Jahaz Mahal rising from deep blues, and the Sanchi Stupa washed in serene whites. It wasn’t just a visual spectacle; it suggested that a visit to MP is an inward, almost spiritual experience, a place where colour becomes emotion.
The next chapter, “MP Mein Dil Hua Bachhe Sa,” reimagined the state through a child’s eyes. The tone turned playful, tin toys, kaleidoscopes, Gond-inspired illustrations, each acting as a metaphor for the wonder and innocence that travel unlocks. Landmarks became toys; forests unfolded like pop-up books.
MP Tourism later released a making-of film, underlining how craft and narrative continued to drive the brand’s visual identity.
In 2018, MP Tourism took a bold and unprecedented step with “Memories of Destination.” On the surface, it looked like a simple montage, a stop-motion stream of tourist photographs set to upbeat regional music. But its power lay in its honesty. At a time when most tourism ads relied on idealised drone shots and manicured landscapes, this film used real photos taken by real tourists. No filters, no touch-ups, just MP as it truly appears on ground.
This authenticity earned global admiration; the campaign won a Silver Lion for Editing and a Bronze Lion for Music at the Cannes Lions Festival in 2018.
In 2023, MP Tourism launched “Jo Aaya, So Wapas Aaya”, a campaign built on a simple behavioural insight: travellers who visit MP often come back. The film visualised this idea through the mesmerising strokes of Gond art, a tribute to one of the state’s most celebrated tribal traditions. A folk-style song carried the viewer across forests, rivers, temples and festivals, stitching together the state’s diversity with a sense of rhythmic familiarity.
The message was passed that MP is the kind of place you return to, because one trip is never enough.
All these campaigns chart the evolution of a brand that refused to stay still. Each chapter brought a new aesthetic, a new metaphor, a new emotional doorway, yet all of them held on to the same heartbeat that Madhya Pradesh invites you to feel something real.
Marketing initiatives and cultural showcases
As MP Tourism’s brand identity strengthened, the state doubled down on initiatives that blended strategic marketing with on-ground cultural experiences. Around 2014, the board launched ‘Aas Paas Tourism’, a campaign designed for the rising preference for short-haul trips. By positioning MP as an easy, drivable getaway for travellers from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the state cleverly tapped into the weekend-travel trend long before it became mainstream.
From 2015 onward, rural tourism emerged as a new focus area. MP Tourism began investing in villages, crafts, homestays and community-led destinations, recognising that travellers increasingly sought experiences rooted in authenticity rather than spectacle. This shift helped open up lesser-seen parts of the state and ensured tourism revenues touched local communities.
Alongside these, MP Tourism steadily built its cultural calendar, a driver of destination appeal. Over the years, the state has curated festivals that celebrate everything from heritage and classical arts to adventure and nature. Events like Go Heritage Run, Tansen Samaroh, Mandu Utsav, Jal Mahotsav, Khajuraho Dance Festival, Lokrang Samaroh, Malwa Festival and Panchmarhi Festival have drawn both domestic and international visitors, each offering a window into MP’s rich artistic and ecological landscape.
MP Tourism also collaborated with the Department of Culture to host the Great Indian Film and Literature Festival in Bhopal, an immersive showcase of art, dance, heritage walks, photography tours and workshops.
And in 2016, when the MP introduced water tourism, it did so with ambition. The inaugural Jal Mahotsav, set against the backdrop of the Indira Sagar Dam showcased MP’s water destinations in a new light, placing the state on the adventure tourism circuit.
The following years saw a series of campaigns that responded to the mood of the country. In the aftermath of the pandemic, MP Tourism launched ‘Intezaar Khatam Hua’, a invitation signalling that the long wait was finally over. The campaign spotlighted monsoon destinations like Amarkantak, Pachmarhi, Mandu, Orchha, Tamia, Bhedaghat and MP’s national parks, subtly rebuilding trust and encouraging responsible travel.
According to media reports, the MP Tourism Board has onboarded four to six agencies and 64 media owners across categories such as photography, video production, brand management, media buying, printing, souvenir production, and creative branding at both national and state levels, as part of its efforts to strengthen the state’s promotional ecosystem.
Taken together, efforts like the cultural festivals, rural programs, monsoon campaigns and the expanded promotional ecosystem, reveal how MP Tourism has built a layered strategy rooted in brand-building, cultural celebration and experience design.
With its brand foundation firmly in place and its ecosystem steadily expanding, MP Tourism was ready for its next leap, a new storyteller to carry its voice forward.
A new face for MP Tourism
In November 2024, Madhya Pradesh Tourism entered a new chapter by appointing Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi as the face of the state. For the tourism board, the partnership was designed to inject fresh energy into the brand’s narrative while spotlighting the state’s vast range of experiences.
The collaboration kicked off with a flagship ad film shaped around Tripathi’s signature humour. It opens with him fumbling through a green screen setup, playfully calling out the artificiality of studio shoots, and posing the question: why pretend, when the real Madhya Pradesh is more cinematic than any manufactured backdrop?
Shot across 20 days in Gwalior, Ujjain, Orchha, Khajuraho and the national parks of Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Pench and Satpura, the film moved from comedy to awe.
With Tripathi leading the narrative, MP Tourism aims to expand its reach and draw in both domestic and global travellers.
MP Tourism’s social media strategy
Madhya Pradesh Tourism’s social media strategy is built on consistent storytelling, visual richness and a clear understanding of what inspires travellers today. With 618K followers on Instagram and 113K subscribers on YouTube, the brand uses its digital platforms as discovery engines, educating, entertaining and simplifying travel planning.
MP Tourism creates a content mix that mirrors the diversity of the state itself: its food, festivals, wildlife, cinema connections, history, adventure offerings and curated itineraries. Each content stream serves a purpose, some spark emotion, some inform, some build aspiration, and others remove planning friction. Together, they create a digital ecosystem where every post acts as an invitation to explore ‘Hindustan ka Dil.’
MP Tourism’s food-focused content is one of its most engaging digital pillars, tapping into how strongly cuisine drives travel decisions. Its posts highlight everything from Indore’s legendary street food like poha-jalebi, garadu and khopra patties, to Bhopal’s kebabs, Maheshwar’s local delicacies and tribal-region staples. Short videos capture vendors at work, city-specific must-eat lists, and regional specialties tied to seasons and festivals.
Event-driven content forms the heartbeat of MP Tourism’s social calendar. Its pages regularly announce cultural and seasonal festivals such as Jal Mahotsav, Tansen Samaroh, Khajuraho Dance Festival, Mandu Utsav, Lokrang and Malwa Festival, each framed through vibrant visuals and crisp reels. Posts offer dates, highlights, artist line-ups, travel tips and glimpses of past editions to build anticipation. This format has become essential for drawing travellers to specific destinations at specific times of the year.
Wildlife content is one of MP Tourism’s strongest storytelling streams, reflecting the state’s reputation as a national park powerhouse. Its social feeds spotlight tigers of Kanha, leopards of Pench, barasinghas, giant squirrels, migratory birds at wetlands, and even smaller creatures that define MP’s ecological richness.
MP Tourism frequently spotlights films shot across the state, using cinema as both credibility and aspiration. Posts reveal how movies like Stree, Singham Returns, Piku, Sui Dhaaga, Aarakshan, and Shamshera were filmed in MP’s cities, forts and forests. Some content features celebrities speaking about their experience shooting in Bhopal, Maheshwar, Orchha or Chanderi, offering organic endorsements of the state’s beauty and hospitality. These posts help travellers recognise familiar backdrops, turning film tourism into a powerful curiosity trigger.
Posts also narrate the stories behind Khajuraho’s sculptures, Mandu’s love legends, Bhimbetka’s prehistoric caves, Sanchi’s Buddhist heritage, Gwalior’s fort architecture, and lesser-known gems like Burhanpur’s tombs or Chanderi’s stepwells. Each piece combines archival richness with modern accessibility, often through short videos, before-after frames, trivia carousels or folklore-inspired captions. This form of storytelling helps younger audiences build cultural context, while also inspiring more informed travel.
Adventure-oriented posts broaden MP Tourism’s appeal to younger, experience-driven travellers. The brand showcases hot-air ballooning, trekking trails, cycling routes, kayaking spots, wildlife safaris, camping sites, zip-lining zones and road-trip circuits.
In all, MP Tourism’s digital presence captures the state the way a traveller might.
The rise of tourism in MP is the result of two decades of consistent brand-building. What started with a bioscope and a simple call to “see the heart of India”, has grown into a multi-layered ecosystem of films, festivals, rural experiences, and more.