With participation from 13 Indian states and 80 exhibitors showcasing tour and travel packages, tourist destinations, unexplored locations, a food fest and an international dance festival, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Tourism Fest 2013 held in Chandigarh recently concluded on a successful note. The event was inaugurated by Shivraj V Patil, governor, Punjab & Administrator, UT, Chandigarh and a CII-KPMG report on ‘Travel & Tourism Sector: Potential, Opportunities and Enabling Framework for Sustainable Growth’ and Weekend Lifestyle Tourism was also released at the event. Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Patil stressed on the need to give the tourism industry its due importance. “Linkage between the ministry of tourism (MoT) and private sector players, mutual co-operation between industry stakeholders, innovation and creative development of new concepts of tourism like eco-tourism, lifestyle tourism, weekend tourism, farm tourism and medical tourism will take the tourism industry to new heights,” he said.
Apart from Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, 12 states including Gujarat, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh also took part in the event. This was the first-of-its-kind initiative with Chandigarh as the host state. It was organised jointly by CII, Tourism Department, UT Administration and CITCO with Punjab as the principal partner state. International exhibitors from China, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey and Ethiopia also took part in the event.
There were two business sessions namely: ‘Exploring New Possibilities & Ease of Doing Business with States, Union Territories of India and International Tourism Boards’, and ‘Conference on Seamless Tourism’, organised with the objective to accelerate growth in the domestic as well as international tourism sectors and to create a roadmap for inclusive and seamless tourism across the country. The event witnessed huge number of speakers- S Sarwan Singh Phillaur, minister for tourism, government of Punjab; Usha Sharma, additional director general, MoT, Government of India; Arjun Sharma, chairman, CII Tourism Fest 2013 and managing director, Le Passage to India Tours & Travels; Umakant Panwar, secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Uttarakhand; Chandrashekar S Jaiswal, deputy general manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation; Jayant Davar, chairman, CII Northern Region and co-chairman and managing director, Sandhar Technologies; Manmohan S Kohli, chairman, CII Chandigarh Council; and Mohan Chauhan, managing director, Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation.
Private initiatives
The travel industry has contributed about `94,487 crore in terms of foreign exchange in 2012 and has been responsible for generating about eight per cent employment in India. Even then India is far behind international peers when it comes to one of the most favourite destinations in the world. So where are we lacking behind? Calling tourism a private sector industry, Patil, said, “The private sector needs to improvise and work with the government if the reach of tourism needs to be enhanced. Tourism industry is totally under the control of the private sector. Therefore, the private sector should improvise and innovate and work with governments and set up more budget hotels, upgrade infrastructure in religious and scenic destinations to leverage domestic tourists. Government can play a role of catalyst or facilitator for the private sector.” He urged the industry to focus on domestic tourism, which can be profitable in the long run for the private sector and recommended leveraging the Himalayas, scenic coastline, eastern and western ghats and unexplored destinations.
Supporting this initiative, Phillaur said they would support the industry with supportive policies. “The government of Punjab is preparing a comprehensive Punjab Tourism Promotion Policy wherein all the elements related to tourism in the state will be given due focus. North comprising of eight states and union territory of Chandigarh has a lot to offer,” added Patil.
Giving importance to seamless travel, the minister further stated that seamless travel should be facilitated across integrated circuits through introduction of integrated taxation regime, linkages between various public transportation modes and improvements in highway infrastructure such as petrol pumps, clean drinking water kiosks and sanitation facilities, road signages etc. “We are planning to come up with a single permit system, applicable to all northern states, viz Chandigarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, to make seamless travel possible for tourists, especially tourist buses,” said KK Sharma, adviser to the administrator, Chandigarh. “We need to develop a system under which a tourist doesn’t have to pay taxes at entry points of all states, rather they would pay a single permit tax applicable to all states. We would meet and discuss the same with all concerned along with CII representatives to make this possible soon,” he added.
Urging that the tourism industry can reach new heights if all stakeholders come on board with their problems and issues, Usha Sharma said they are planning to come up with a policy of collective landing and giving ‘Visa on Arrival’ (VoA) to four or more foreign tourists coming together. “Our new initiatives like e-visa, collective landing permit can help the industry grow at a robust rate. It is due to this purpose, VoA has been extended to eight airports and shortly this will be extended to Goa airport as well. Tourists from 40 more countries will also be provided VoA facilities in the near future,” she added.
The other initiatives of the ministry include sensitising the state governments on safety and security of tourists; 24×7 helpline in 12 languages; formation of Empowered Committee to suggest on easing, rationalisation and simplification of taxes; ‘Clean India’ Campaign; setting up of Indian Culinary Institute at Tirupathi; 777 days on Indian Himalayas to leverage the tourism potential of the Himalayas; Clean India Campaign under which historic monuments can be adopted by big industrial houses, ITC has adopted Qutub Minar and ONGC has adopted six monuments across the country. She added that the ministry of tourism is working with the ministry of commerce to rationalise tax simplification in the country.
Seamless travel
According to MoT, a growth of 26.5 per cent has been recorded in the number of tourists availing VoA scheme during the period January to November 2013. A total number of 17,594 VoAs has been issued in this period as compared to 13,903 VoAs during the corresponding period of 2012. Anand felt that this number could be significantly increased if the Indian government starts issuing e-visas. “India’s share is a meager 0.64 per cent of world tourism contribution which can rise tremendously if there is a supportive policy and regulatory framework in place. For this, India also needs to upgrade its visa issuance systems and use IT to issue ‘Smart Visas’ and also collect passports online,” he said.
He also stressed on the need to have at least one theme-cum-amusement park like Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Europa Park in all northern states as they can be the key game changers for tourism sector’s growth in the north.
National fervour
Apart from showcasing regular destinations in their respective states, they were also keen to highlight unexplored locations. States like Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab showcased their cultural heritage by dance and song performances. Armando Duarte, senior manager, Goa Tourism Development Corporation said, “When it comes to Goa, people only think of beaches, but very few know that one-third of Goa is covered with dense forest land. By the medium of this fest we are creating awareness about the forest beauty, heritage, hinterland and cultural traits of Goa.”
To develop Punjab as a tourist destination, the state has been divided it into four clusters. Amritsar-Gurdaspur cluster, Chandigarh-Ropar cluster, Bhatinda-Ferozpur cluster and Patiala-Kapurthala cluster. “We are promoting two destinations of Punjab—Virasate Khalsa and Patiala Heritage Walk. We have especially introduced the concept of farm tourism that is spread across 20 heritage farm houses in the state,” said Gursharan Singh, tourist officer, Department of Punjab.
Corporate clients showed a lot of interest in Madhya Pradesh’s Caravan Tourism and Ujjain-Pachmari trips. “We are also promoting new tourist destinations in Madhya Pradesh like Bhedaghat in Jabalpur, ancient temples of Chanderi, Fort of Burhanpur,” said Vivek Mathur, general manager, Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Chandrashekhar Jaiswal, deputy general manager, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, said they are coming up with a project worth Rs 5,000 crore which will be functional by 2020 for which they have acquired land in Sindhuri to establish Sea World. Maharashtra is promoting its various USPs like UNESCO monuments (Ajanta Ellora), 78 beaches and hill stations.
International colour
The stall of China was one of the most colourful stalls in the fest. Li Qianguo, deputy director, China National Tourist Office, said, “Visitors showed interest in exploring the unknown destinations of China like The Silk Route, Shanxi, Xi’an, Cuando. We got more than 500 queries in three days and we generated more than 50 leads.”
Iyung Masruroh, deputy director of International Tourism Promotion for Asia of Republic of Indonesia said, “We have recieved large number of queries for Lombok, Yogyakarta and Jakarta.” Deepak Arora, information officer, Amazing Thailand said, “Besides Bangkok and Phuket, we got numerous queries regarding Hua Hin, Koh Chang, Rayong, Ko-Samui.”
Chef’s met
The International Chef Meet saw 35 chefs from 15 categories across the world. The three-day culinary event saw over 90 participants competing in various individual and team events with 14 categories judged by an internal WACS approved jury. Praising Indian cuisine, chef Gissur Gudmundsson, president, World Association of Chefs Society said, “India is truly ‘incredible’ and the logo of MoT is appropriate. We are surprised to know that India offers more than one lakh recipes to the world. Events like these would indeed showcase India’s best to the world.”
