Online travel company MakeMyTrip on Sunday said it has joined hands with the Ministry of Tourism to showcase 600-plus offbeat destinations. The online travel firm has launched a microsite, 'Traveller’s Map of India'. The site provides an interactive platform for travellers to discover lesser-known tourism gems that lie within the country's borders based on their preferences. "This thoughtfully curated microsite has been designed in line with the Government of India’s visionary 'DekhoApnaDesh' programme," MakeMyTrip said in a statement.

The firm said that to arrive at the curated shortlist, it looked through India's travel search history. With millions of visitors using the platform every month, the destination searches on the platform can be considered to be the nation's ballot for must-see destinations in the country, MMT said. 

Based on this premise, the company selected destinations that are lesser known or are only familiar to people in certain pockets of the country. The selections have been further categorised with tags such as adventure, wildlife, heritage, mountains, beaches etc, to help travellers sift through to their preferred travel genres. 

"The Traveller’s Map of India reflects the voice of almost every Indian traveller which makes it aptly commemorative of August 15th," said Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder and Group CEO of MakeMyTrip. "We have always championed for the diversity of India's tourism offerings, and wanted to push the envelope of discovery further. What better way to do this than to empower every Indian to be a spokesperson for the country's cultural, historic, natural and geographical marvels." 

Magow said MakeMytrip was grateful to the Ministry of Tourism for supporting its initiative. "It reaffirms our faith in our mission to exteriorize India as the most sought-after Tourism destination in the world."

Union Minister of Tourism Kishan Reddy welcomed MakeMyTrip's initiative to present India's diverse destinations and to promote domestic tourism. "We invite more such initiatives to realise our collective dream of showcasing our country to the world," he said.