Chapter
three
Tourism is one of the major industries in the world. Scores of
countries base their economy upon it. Even in India, it is the second
largest foreign exchange earner (Rs. 11,000 crores a year). We propose
to set up a new goal of attracting at least 10 million tourists to
India within 5 years, so that we can earn at least 50,000 crores of
rupees as foreign exchange every year from them. To be able to achieve
this gigantic project, I make the following simple but powerful
suggestions :
1.
Tourism, including hotels should be declared as tax free Export
Processing Zone (actually this industry is much better than all other
industries, except software, as foreign exchange outflow is very
negligible as campared to the inflow of foreign exchange.) Thus, any
hotel anywhere in India will come under the purview of Export
Processing Zone itself.
2.
All imports related to Tourism industry like hotels, luxury
cars etc. should be made duty free. It should be exempted from customs
and excise duties also. The same has already done for units set up in
the Export Processing Zones.
3.
At present the charges of Indian hotels are higher than those
of many other hotels in the world. This is a big hurdle for tourists
visiting India. Now with this scheme, thousands of new hotels will be
built and hotel charges will automatically come down and induce the
tourists to visit India in larger numbers.
4.
30,000 suitable plots of land all over India should be
earmarked for the development of hotels and resorts for tourism
industry and a nominal rate (Re. 1/- per square metre) should be
charged from the entrepreneurs. Emphasis should be given to
eco-tourism (ecological friendly tourism). These hotels could be built
as a joint venture or on B.O.T. basis. It would be better if a Tourism
Development Fund is set up to bridge “critical infrastructural
gaps.”
These hotels
should be thrown open to the private sector (Indian as well as foreign
entrepreneurs) and totally exempted from the environmental laws. Each
new hotel room constructed should be obliged to plant and take care of
at least 200 new neem trees to help in controlling pollution and
giving completely non-toxic and biodegraded pesticides to Indian
farmers.
5.
Starting of special taxi / bus / train and air services
for tourists
Special sevas
should be started from the major metropolitan cities and these should
be connected with all the historic places. Through this, we can
provide good services to our guests. They can see entire India in one
go. In this regard GIF is of the view that necessary assistance can be
taken from Ministries of Tourism, Railways, Surface Transport and
Civil Aviation. Services of important functionaries of eminent travel
agencies/hotels/tourism departments of Central and State Governments
can also be taken in this regard to make these services successful. In
addition to the above efforts, all the important pilgrim centres
should be connected with these sevas. Special trips should be
organised on festival season.
There should be a proper coordination among
Central and State Governments, public sector undertakings and the
private sector. Programmes of
seeing monuments, various art forms, handicrafts, folk dances,
traditional fairs and cuisines should also be included in these
services for the preservation and enrichment of India’s culture and
heritage. It would be better if we have the participation of
panchayats, NGOs, local bodies etc. to achieve a wider spread of
tourist facilities. It would not only reduce the regional imbalance
but also improve the social and economic standards of rural
masses.
6.
Status of Industry to Tourism
Tourism should be
given the status of industry and all facilities and concessions
provided to other industries should be provided to this industry also
for its survival and development. For this, it is suggested that a
separate board should be constituted under the Ministry of Tourism
which should be headed by a senior level officer of the Government of India. There
should be four other members on the Board selected or nominated by the
different sectors of Tourism industry. This Tourism Promotion Board
would prepare policies and programmes for the promotion of tourism and
provide necessary assistance and advice in the development of the
industry. The Board would also provide all types of facilities to our
foreign guests i.e. centralised money changes, bus-rail-car-air
facilities and hotel reservation, state tourism counters and tourist
guides.
7.
Separate Legislation for Tourism
A separate
legislation for the development of tourism should also be brought out
with the aim of ensuring social, cultural and environmental
sustainability of tourism development and protecting the tourists in
the country. Similarly, a regulatory institutional mechanism would be
envisaged in the legislation to deal with the complaints of foreign
guests firmly and provide them with all types of security. Any type of
insecurity would not only mar the interests of the industry but also
defame the image of our great country. We should take precautionary
measures for preventing these types of mishappenings.
8.
Centres for Yoga and Naturopathy for Tourists
It will be in the
interest of the industry if a number of yoga and naturopathy centers
are set up or tourists. These centres should be built up in the
Himalayan surroundings which are known for peace, devotion and
sacrifice. We have a glorious past and we are all proud of our
cultural heritage embedded in the teachings of ancient seers, rishis
and wise persons. The two great apostles of peace and non-violence,
viz., Lord Mahavira and Lord Buddha were born here. Our sacred lore is
replete with innumerable incidents and anecdotes relating to
self-illumined and enlightened sages and other holy
persons.
It is on account
of our common spiritual and moral values marking our unity in
diversity that our cultural heritage is intact despite foreign
invasions from time to time. In short, India was not only the
spiritual Guru for other nations, she was also a model nation as
regards economic prosperity and development. Our ancient legacy in all
areas is singularly unique and peerless.
New Tourism
Policy
The
Draft Tourism Policy announced by the Government of India on June 26,
1998 is a right step in the right direction and I hope that under the
dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister the industry would get some
relief. Presently, South East Asia’s economic crisis and political
instability within the country has led to a collapse in the number of
tourist arrivals to India. The meagre growth rate of 1.4 per cent
after June 1998 has sent shock ways throughout the tourism industry.
For the first time ever, the industry experienced such a poor growth
of 1.4 per cent in tourist arrivals. It was 7.7 per cent in 1996 and
3.8 per cent in 1997. Keeping in view the present scanario, we do hope
that the growth in tourist arrivals at the end of the current year would be more 8 per cent.
We urge the Government of India,
especially the Tourism Minister to give some more concessions
to the tourism industry so that it would be able to cross the target
fixed for it and earn more foreign exchange for the country, which is
the need of the hour.
Employment Generation Through
Tourism
The
problem of unemployment is the main problem in India. More than 20
million youths are under the grip of this problem. Government of India
has made several programmes to solve it but has not got any success so
far because of lack of initiative and implementation of the employment
schemes. The Planning Commission of India, under the chairmanship of
Prime Minister of India, has been working day in and day out to solve
this chronic problem. Several employment schemes e.g. Prime Minister
Rozgar Yojna, Antyodaya Programme, Food for Labour, Jawahar Rozgar
Yojna, Mahila Samridhi Yojna and other schemes are under the purview
of Central and State Governments but have yielded no significant
results.
There
are long queues before the Employment Exchanges, Employment Bureau,
Placement Service Centres and other areas for getting suitable jobs.
To complete this gigantic
task, GIF proposes to utilise the services of the unemployed youth by
providing suitable training in the field of tourism through the
following method :
I)
Setting up of reception committees at each International
airport
GIF is of the view
that to increase the percentage of tourists in India, there is a need
to setup Reception Committees at every International airport of India.
The members of the Reception Committee will organise “Welcome
Function with Tilak Ceremony”, Folk dances, Welcome Songs etc. in
honour of our guests (the tourists) by following the ancient tradition
and cultural practices of
India. Each and every tourist would be garlanded by the members of the
Reception Committee. This reception committee should be headed by a
Protocol Officer. Through this, we will be able to provide
employment to thousands of unemployed youths in the country. This type
of reception is given to tourists in HAWAII.
II)
Appointment of Guides/Instructors :
GIF is of the view
that to provide suitable facility to our guests (the tourists),
appointment of Guides/Instructors is every essential. The services of
these Guides would be utilised keeping in view the will of tourists.
These Guides would be well conversant with all the historic places,
famous buildings, important fountains etc. situated in the concerned
area and provide useful information to the tourists as and when
required. To train these guides, GIF would appoint some Instructors.
These Instructors would provide necessary trainings to the Guides. For
this purpose, GIF would set up about 1000 practical training centres
all over the country. These centres would provide three months
intensive training courses to the Guides. In addition to these, GIF
would prepare video training course for the benefit of Guides who are
working in rural and remote areas of the country. Through this method,
we can not only improve our cordial relations with tourists but also
provide employment to 1 million unemployed youths in a
year.
Management and
implementation
The
whole project would be run by a Consortium of Government agencies, big
business houses, trade unions, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs)
like Rotary Club, Red Cross etc. to get best possible management
available in India for its smooth operation. It will be made a part of
the existing Rs. 4500 crores per year Jawahar Rozgar Yojna, so no new
funding would be required.
Voluntary
Service
GIF humbly offers
its services free of cost to implement this entire programme
within a time frame of 180 days from the date of acceptance of this
project including setting up of infrastructure. It will cost us less
than Rs. 500/- per person and provide jobs to near about 50 million
persons every year after they have got essential training in the
field.