Restoring tourism

The pandemic has changed the human lifestyle. Every individual has now become disconnected from nature and connected with the world. The regular field trips, outings, weekend tours, vacation trips etc. have vanished. As per tourism statistics 2021, the number of domestic tourists' visits were at its peak till 2019 with 2,322 million tourists, which has now fallen to 610 million. Inbound tourism has declined drastically, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India have come down from 10.93 million in 2019 to 2.74 million in 2021. During 2020, FTA was more, with a percentage share of 58.2 in the leisure holiday and recreation category.

The tourism industry provides a lot of scope for employment and contributes to the country's foreign exchange earnings. In 2011, it was Rs 83,036 crores and started rising from 2014 (Rs 1,20,367 crores) to 2019 (Rs 2,11,661 crores). Owing to the pandemic, the earnings have declined to Rs 50,136 crores.

After a long break following the pandemic, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, and DoNER, G Kishan Reddy, has brought the focus back on the need for a renewed drive for tourism promotion.

Pandemic has made a serious impact on the tourism industry. In a determined bid to revive tourism, the minister has organised several regional conferences in recent months to bring region-specific concentration and improvise need-based development of infrastructure.

India is successfully moving towards vaccination at a good pace, and soon, 100 per cent unlock will attract more tourists, both domestically and from foreign countries. Serious efforts are being made to improve infrastructure and promote tourist places.

As pointed out by Kishan Reddy at the regional conferences, a deliberate tourism development strategy for the region is in line with the Prime Minister's idea of cooperative federalism — where the Central and the state governments come together to find solutions for a better India.

The states and the UTs are endowed with diverse tourist attractions, with each having its own distinct features. The Ministry of Tourism promotes the country as a holistic destination on various platforms in digital, print and social media. Successful campaigns like Dekho Apna Desh have been carried out wherein webinars on various tourism products including dedicated ones on states & UTs were held.

Key issues at the conferences

The Southern Regional Conference brought focus on the potential of cruise tourism in the Southern Region. In the North-Eastern Region, the focus was on development initiatives and enhancement of infrastructure and connectivity.

The ministry is continuously working on different verticals like infrastructure development, promotion and publicity, skill development etc. to facilitate the development of overall tourism in the region.

These regional conferences had presentations and interactions from sectors like tourism, shipping, railways, environment, forest and climate change, along with the Archaeological Survey of India, NeGD and NITI Aayog to appraise the participants about the various projects and initiatives being taken by the Central Government for development of the region.

During the sessions, there was a detailed discussion on heritage & cultural tourism initiatives, rail tourism, skill development etc.

To promote tourism in the North-Eastern Region more aggressively, the Ministry of Tourism has constituted a committee of officials from the Ministry and active stakeholders in NER.

The focus is on identifying new destinations, developing itineraries around them, identifying the places to organise events for awareness and organising workshops/seminars for the local stakeholders — equipping them with necessary skills.

The connectivity through air, rail and road to various destinations in the region is excellent. Concentrating on the issues of skill development in the sector by creating a pool of well-trained professional tourist facilitators, the attempt is to provide world-class services to the tourists, apart from ensuring promotion and marketing of destinations in the domestic and international markets.

Revenge tourism

Speaking at one of the regional conferences, Reddy said that a stable state of vaccination has boosted confidence in the revival of tourism, which was made possible only after the administration of 100 crore vaccine doses in 281 days under the guidance of the Prime Minister.

From the past few months, there has been a surge in domestic tourism. Soon the borders will be opened for international tourists. In this connection, the ministry has notified COVID-19 Safety and Hygiene Protocols. The ministry has also come up with an innovative feature called System for Assessment, Awareness and Training in Hospitality Industry (SAATHI) to ensure compliance with COVID 19 Safety and Hygiene Guidelines.

SAATHI initiative assists hotels' preparedness to continue their operations safely and also to restore the confidence of guests, enhancing the image of the hotel as a responsible entity at the same time.

The Southern Region has responded well in registering their units on the portal to follow the necessary protocols; more than 10,000 accommodation units have registered under SAATHI. The Ministry of Tourism undertakes infrastructure development at tourist destinations across the country under its infrastructure development schemes — Swadesh Darshan (SD) and PRASAD (National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive).

Swadesh and PRASAD schemes

In the Swadesh Darshan Scheme, 76 projects are sanctioned across the country, including different themes such as Coastal Circuit, Buddhist Circuit, Eco Circuit, Spiritual Circuit etc.

With the focus on integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits, the Ministry has sanctioned 15 projects in southern states worth Rs 1,088 crore. Under the scheme, tourism development is undertaken at tier-II and tier-III destinations under different themes. There are 16 sanctioned projects in the North-East Region under Swadesh Darshan Scheme worth more than Rs 1,300 crores.

Thirty-seven projects are sanctioned in the country under the PRASAD scheme. Approximately Rs 200 crores are sanctioned to the NER for the implementation of the scheme. A total of six projects have been sanctioned for an amount of Rs 193.61 crore, which includes the development of Kamakhya Temple and pilgrimage destination in Guwahati for an amount of Rs 29.99 crore.

Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav has provided an opportunity to pay tribute to all those people that fought for the preservation of our heritage.

At the initiative of the Minister of Tourism, the Ministry of External Affairs has appointed 20 tourism officers on Indian missions abroad, which will enable them to widely promote Indian tourism in countries such as Australia, Canada, USA, France, Germany, and the Gulf countries.

Conclusion

Let's vaccinate and take a break from the routine in order to explore the rich heritage of our country. There are many destinations — imbibed with civilizational ethos — waiting to be explored, and restored for the next generation. It's time to pack up the bags and disappear in the historical timeline.

Views expressed are personal