Day 24 – Q 3.Why hasn’t tourism grown to its true potential in India? What can be done to make tourism thrive in India? Suggest.
3. Why hasn’t tourism grown to its true potential in India? What can be done to make tourism thrive in India? Suggest.
भारत में पर्यटन की वास्तविक क्षमता क्यों नहीं बढ़ी है? भारत में पर्यटन को बढ़ाने के लिए क्या किया जा सकता है? सुझाव दें।
Approach:
- Introduction
- Why hasn’t tourism grown to its true potential in India?
- Progress being made- Steps being taken by the government.
- What needs to be done to realize the potential.
- Conclusion
Introduction:
With 29 states, each the size of a small country, a rich history and remarkable diversity of culture, India has huge potential in tourism sector. The vast country offers myriad options: 36 world heritage sites and 103 national parks, plus the Taj Mahal in Agra, Rajasthan’s hill forts, the holy city of Varanasi, and everything else in between the mountains of the Himalayas and the beaches of Goa.
The World Travel & Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated 9.4% of India’s GDP in 2017 and supported 8% of its total employment.
Despite the potential and the significance, India ranked India 40th out of 136 countries overall as per the 2017 report of the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. India has much untapped potential here.
Why hasn’t tourism grown to its true potential in India?
- Hazardous road travel and a lack of affordable hotels hamper international travellers’ experience, while high taxes hinder the industry’s profitability.
- Tourism (specifically) is not listed in any of the three lists under schedule 7 of the constitution.
- Crime rate: There have been incidents where foreigners were the victims in various crimes ranging from purse snatching to rape/murder.
- Weak infrastructure and stretched bureaucracy.
- Climate change and anthropological interference- In some areas, tiger reserves no longer have tigers.
- Increasing competition.
Progress being made:
India has done quite a lot in recent years to grow its travel and tourism industry.
- Major cleanliness campaign under the Swachh Bharat movement for protecting and preserving the sanctity of monuments of national heritage.
- The government is promoting tourism through the INCREDIBLE INDIA campaign and provides the facility of E-tourist visa for more than 150 countries (and counting).
- On a pilot basis, a ‘Incredible India Helpline’ has been set up to guide the tourists.
- For development of tourism infrastructure in the country, the ministry has introduced two new schemes: Prasad: Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive and Swadesh Darshan: Integrated Development of Theme-Based Tourist Circuits
- The tourism ministry has split the northeast region into theme-based circuits to boost tourism in the zone under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme.
Launch of six tourist circuits- Ramayan Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Wildlife Circuit and Rural Circuit.
How can India realize its potential to be a tourism hotspot?
While the numbers of foreign travellers to India is rising, but there is still much untapped potential for growth. India can enhance its value proposition by fostering an enabling environment in which the industry can prosper.
- Taking advantage of 600,000 villages, each with their own cultures and heritage; eco-tourism; and cruise tourism to create unique experiences for travellers.
- Integrating the “Incredible India” campaign into a more holistic campaign that includes not only print but also other channels such as digital, social, placement, review sites, and global media – and that focuses on the positives of visitor-created content, while also addressing the challenges these visitors report.
- Enhancing the perception and reality of India as a safe destination by designing and implementing enhanced security protocols.
- Investing in the development of both physical and digital infrastructure in order to confront the issue of last-mile connectivity.
- Taking advantage of the labour force available in India in order to improve tourists’ experiences by training skilled and unskilled workers in the hospitality industry, through both public and private programmes.
- Creation of a national tourism board to unify today’s fragmented travel and tourism industry. In effect, the lack of a unified body hinders the tourism industry’s ability to achieve its potential.
- To complement the holistic approach at the national level, India should also have a state-level approach, developing a few of a state’s destinations via public-private cooperation.
- Sustainable tourism by keeping a check on wastage disposal, pollution etc must be ensured.
Conclusion:
The future of both India and especially its travel and tourism industry is bright – if it continues to focus on its opportunities and address its current limitations. The need for public private cooperation in execution and change in mindset of people is crucial.
Best answer 1: Raashi
Best answer 2: Jyoti Singh
