South
Asia is one of the most diversified regions boasting its world’s quality water resources, river systems, ocean
resources, coral reefs, beaches, hills, national parks, pilgrimage sites,
architectural marvels, ecological and biodiversity hotspots. It has also
world’s highest and second highest mountain peaks thereby having uniqueness and
vast potential on tourism front. In 2013, 15.2 million foreign tourists visited
the region, a 5.3 per cent growth over 2012. The region garnered a market share
of 1.4 per cent in the global travel space.
In spite of having tremendous
potential and varied resources South Asia is lacking in terms of international
tourism. The reason for this are
attributed to several factors like lack of required infrastructure, restricted
rules for inter regional travel, poor image in context of safety and security
of tourists and conflicts etc. Few years ago under the aegis of Ministry of
Tourism Govt. of India a South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) tour operators conclave was held for the purpose of joint tourism
promotion of South Asia. But there is no significant development seen ever
since.
India
as a tourist destination has got tremendous potential in every facet whether its
culture, tradition, scenic beauty, talent, topography, rich heritage and
versatility of resources. Being the biggest country by area in South Asia,
India can be beneficial by acting as a pivot of international travel into the
region. At present India’s inbound tourism is almost half the figure of
outbound tourism. Talking about the previous year performance; 2013 has
witnessed 6.84 million inbound tourists as compare to 15 million outbound
tourists. Gujarat is the leading state for outbound tourism whereas Maharashtra
stands at first rank in inbound tourism in India. There is a huge probability
of having strong impact of 2014 elections in tourism sector in India. The
reason being our now Prime Minister Narendra Kumar Modi who earlier was the
chief minister of Gujarat has always given tourism the first priority for developing
any state or country as we can see the success of “Khushboo Gujarat Ki” a brand
campaign for the promotion of Gujarat tourism.Tourism have always been a major
driving force in generating revenue in a particular country. In fact tourist
arrival in 2011-12 had gone up by 25
lakh to a total of 2.23 crore as against 1.98 crore tourists in 2010-11.
The
concept of regionalisation has again gained momentum with the new government
talking about regional consolidation. Regionalisation is evident in the successes of tourism in countries in Europe
like France and Spain.
Taking all these points into consideration for the very first time this year in
2014 elections a political party has introduced 5 T’s of tourism in its
election manifesto. The 5 T’s are talent, tradition, tourism, trade and
technology i.e.., we have to promote all these five areas in order to promote
tourism of our country. Prime minister strategically invited heads of states from SAARC countries to send across the message that the new
Indian government believes in regional consolidation. During his recent visit
to Bhutan, which was his first international visit after elected as a Prime
Minister, NarendraModi spoke about the joint
promotion of both the countries by adding a tag line “Terrorism
divides, Tourism unites” during his speech in Bhutan.
The bilateral relations between
the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan and the Republic of India have always remained traditionally
close and Modi has the vision that if we jointly promote our destinations it
will surely be beneficial for our development and sharing harmonious relations
with neighboring countries. He also
said that we should have a joint tourist ircuit covering some parts of Bhutan
and some parts of North East India so that we could also promote North East
India as it has always lagged behind in context of tourism promotion due to
lack of infrastructure, political unstability and restricted entry regimes.
North East India is called as “Paradise Unexplored” and a major part of India
which has always been neglected due to our conflicts with China. So Modi has
considered North East India as his first priority for development strategy.In
addition to it he also laid foundation stone for a 600 MW hydel power project a
joint venture between Indian and Bhutanese companies and inaugurated the new
Supreme Court of Bhutan building constructed with Indian assistance. The vision
of the Prime Minister was well appreciated by people on both sides of the
Himalayas.
Another neighbour of India that shares border with it in the North
and North East, Nepal also finds jointly promoting tourism with India very
promising. There is a lot of prospects in promoting North East India with Nepal
as Bagdogra Airport is closer to Nepal's border of Kakarvitta, it doesn't take
much time fortravellers to explore between Nepal and India. The nearest
airport from Kakarvitta is at Bhadrapur, located at a distance of 19 km. Having
a joint tour package between Nepal & North East India will also boost
tourism. However, there is no flight from Nepal to North East Indian
destinations, including Bagdogra, which makes travel between the two countries
difficult.
Government of India has allotted
union budget of 1,966 crores to the tourism sector for the year 2014-15 which
is a surplus amount as per the need of hour. New government has took major
initiatives like provision of Electronic Travel Authorisation / Electronic Visa
by this October, extension of on arrival visa in India to 180 countries, having
a civil aviation authority bill and so on. The amount of Rs. 200 crore has been
provided for National Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana
(HRIDAY) as India is rich in its heritage sites which are a major part of
Indian tourism. In addition to it National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation
and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) and Archaeological sites preservation
has also got budget of 100 crores each.
One of the significant development area
as per new government is development of “Buddhist Circuit”. World Bank and
International Finance Corporation (IFC) are supporting India’s ministry of
tourism and state tourism departments of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to develop the
Buddhist Circuit. IFC and the Buddhist Circuit Steering Committee have launched
a five-year strategy document called 'Investing in the Buddhist Circuit'.
Government is trying to connect all the dots which can bring India to the
mainstream of international travel and make it one major hub as international
tourist destination around the globe.
ICSI India-Center for Excellence for Service Industry. Visit Website for more information about indian tourism industry
