Himalayan Promises

Snow-capped mountains, steep-sided peaks, valleys and alpine glaciers, lush green forest, gurgling streams and diverse flora and fauna, the Indian Himalayan range has always been the crowning glory of the country and an elysium for the discerning traveller. Starting from the foothills of the Siwaliks in the south to the Tibetian plateau in the north, the Himalayan range is a treasure trove of unmatchable and breathtaking experiences, some of which have been explored while many still waiting to be experienced. According to a report by the ministry of tourism (MoT), Government of India (GoI) on the top 10 states of India in terms of their share of domestic and international tourists for the year 2012, Uttarakhand ranked eighth followed by West Bengal in the 10th position with 2.6 per cent (26,827,329) and 2.2 per cent (22,730,205) share respectively in domestic tourism. While Andhra Pradesh topped the list with 20.0 per cent (206,817,895) share. In terms of foreign tourism share, West Bengal and Himachal Pradesh stood sixth and 10th with 5.9 per cent (1,219,610) and 2.4 per cent (5,00,284) share respectively. Topping this list was Maharashtra with 24.7 per cent (5,120,287) share. However, the HVS 2013 India State Ranking Survey on this 2012 report, points out that though these three Himalayan states featured in the top 10 list, West Bengal’s share has dropped by one to two places from before and Uttarakhand has shown deteriorating progress over the last five years. While other Himalayan states have failed to feature in the top 10 position. To understand the reason why, we take a look at the outcome of the ongoing Himalayan campaign till now, bottlenecks which have hindered this growth and the required steps needed to be taken to realise the full potential of the Himalayan states.

777 days campaign

The MoT launched a campaign titled – 777 days of Incredible Indian Himalayas – on World Tourism Day in New Delhi last year. The campaign, which is set to continue for a span of 777 days, i.e. around two years and a month and a half from its launch date, was initiated with a two fold objective, one to attract more international tourists to India during the lean summer season and second to create global awareness that 73 per cent of the Himalayan region is in India. The campaign also focused on how the six Himalayan states – Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh can work towards promoting and developing the Himalayas as a tourist destination for domestic as well as foreign tourists. The campaign also aimed at promoting the seven sister states which had been witnessing lower numbers of arrivals as compared to its other Himalayan counterparts. According to the 2012 survey of MoT, in terms of domestic tourism arrivals, Assam ranked 21st with 4,511,000 domestic tourists; Meghalaya 23rd with 680,000 domestic tourists; Tripura 25th with 361,000 domestic tourists, Arunachal Pradesh 26th with 317,000 domestic tourists, Manipur 27th with 134,000 domestic tourists, Mizoram 28th with 64,000 domestic tourists and Nagaland, 29th with 35,000 domestic tourists. In comparison, Uttarakhand stood eighth, West Bengal 10th, Himachal Pradesh 15th and Jammu & Kashmir 17th and Sikkim 24th. In terms of foreign tourism arrivals, they also ranked below the other Himalayan states – Assam ranked 22nd with 17,000 international tourists; Tripura 23rd with 8,000 international tourists; Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, both 24th with 5,000 international tourists; Nagaland 27th with 2,000 international tourists; Manipur and Mizoram, both 28th with 700 international tourists. On the contrary, West Bengal stood sixth, Himachal Pradesh 10th, Uttarakhand 17th and Jammu & Kashmir 18th and Sikkim 21st.

“The impact of the peak fee has been marginalised.” Mandip Singh Soin Founder & Mng. Director, Ibex Expeditions

Despite the passage of few months since its launch, the campaign failed to make significant increase in tourism inflow to these Himalayan states. The reason being the lack of awareness among domestic and international markets about the campaign. “The greatest show on earth and life altering journey on Himalayas, two promotional films on the mountain range which were released at the event haven’t yet been launched for public viewing. In addition, I have witnessed no posters promoting the Himalayas in international destinations. We need to revive the promotional aspect of the Himalayan campaign as many are still unaware of its existence,” states Mandip Singh Soin, founder and managing director, Ibex Expeditions. However, a campaign isn’t a complete solution to promoting a destination as discovering new tourist circuits is also necessary to develop the tourism potential of the Himalayan states. Abhijit Chalke, director, Parivaar India Tours adds, “For offbeat adventure seekers, the Khasi and Garo Hills of Meghalaya offer variety of picturesque trekking trails and the rivers of Arunachal Pradesh are hot-spots for rafting. Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur are excellent places for tribal tourism. For tourists who love to explore diverse global traditions, the Hornbill festival of Nagaland is the best occasion to attend.”

“For offbeat adventure seekers, the Khasi and Garo Hills of Meghalaya offer variety of picturesque trekking trails.” Abhijit Chalke Director, Parivaar India Tours

Furthermore, to increase traffic to the Himalayas, MoT had also announced at the campaign that 50 per cent of the peak fee chargeable will be met by The Indian Mountaineering Foundation for climbing expeditions and the subsequent loss incurred would be subsidised by them under their publicity budget. However, this failed to make a significant impact in increasing the inflow of mountaineers to the Himalayan region, states Soin. Stating the reason, he adds, “Uttarakhand also made an announcement that it will waive off all state peak fees for mountains within the state, which is three times the size of what The Indian Mountaineering Foundation does. Unfortunately, the latter hasn’t been realised. Therefore, the impact of the peak fee has been marginalised.” Furthermore, as part of the campaign, the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI) had collaborated with the ministry to organise adventure activities like river rafting, Himalayan run, mountain and bike events. For the same, discounted packages were created by adventure tour operators and its subsequent promotion was promised by MoT on its official website. “But till now there has been no demand or query for these packages since the promotion of these packages haven’t been executed in the tourism website,” opines Soin.

Issues to resolve

“Due to the disaster last year we suffered a revenue loss of Rs 12,000 crore.” Dr Umakant Panwar IAS, Secretary, Dept of Tourism, Govt of Uttarakhand

Though increasing tourism arrivals have always been a lucrative prospect for the tourism industry for its contribution to the GDP, regulating the carrying capacity has also been a burning issue. For instance, the monsoon deluge that struck Uttarakhand in June last year was a result of mismanaged tourists inflow, inadequate infrastructure and a lackadaisical approach to sustainability. “Our gross state domestic product for the year 2012-2013 was Rs 1,07,548 crore. Tourism contributes 25 to 30 per cent to the state economy and due to the disaster last year we suffered a revenue loss of Rs 12,000 crore,” states Dr Umakant Panwar, IAS, secretary, department of tourism, Government of Uttarakhand. To rebuild its infrastructure, the state government has received Rs 1000 crore from the Centre out of the planned Rs 3500 crore.

“Key issues like the number of tourist per season, licensing, safety guidelines, etc are still a far cry.” Kavitha Reddy Founder Director of Basecamp Adventures

Sustainability has also been a crucial factor in the Himalayan states because of its fragile ecosystem. The 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017), sought to address various tourism related issues including preservation of natural resources and addressing capacity constrains. “During the drafting of the 12th Five Year Plan we had presented that a carrying capacity study should be instituted for all the geographical regions of the country. This is crucial since in different areas the impact numbers can vary. The government has earmarked certain funds which they can deploy to the state government. But to the best of my knowledge, no state government from the Himalayan states have instituted this study,” points out Soin. The same was reiterated by Kavitha Reddy, founder director of Basecamp Adventures, “Though state tourism boards consider the issue of sustainability while framing the policies, but ground implementation is very erratic. Key issues like the number of tourist per season, licensing, safety guidelines, etc are still a far cry. Most of the challenges faced can be overcome by better communication and implementation, but putting together a sustainability plan and doing impact analysis on a regular basis are the ways to stop exploitation that can cause irreversible damage to the nature.”

New initiatives

For the Himalayan states to be positioned as a brand of value, a lot of crucial issues need to be addressed. “Firstly, adventure tourism guidelines needs to be strictly followed by both national and local travel agents and there shouldn’t be a diluted policy since safety and environment are concerned,” states Soin. “Any future plan has to be with clear environmental assessment guidelines and with a robust sustainability plan,” opines Reddy adding that a higher level of engagement is also necessary between tourism board and travel agents which at the moment is limited to approvals and guidelines. In addition, promoting local employments, preventing illegal construction of hotels is also of crucial importance. “Many illegal construction of hotels and residential flats are taking place in Ranikhet, Uttarakhand, wherein buildings are being built on certain slopes breaking the set guidelines,” informs Soin stating there should be proper checks to regulate this. “In addition, the government and the private sector needs to pull in insurance companies to provide security to tourists, there should be satellite phone usage, proper architectural guidelines, along with steps to promote local participation and re-energise eco-tourism campaign,” adds Soin.

To revive the tourism potential of Uttarakhand and promote it as a year-long destination, the state tourism department is introducing new products this year which include – the winter Chardham Yatra, winter carnival and the Tehri mega project, a man-made lake consisting of a Tehri adventure centre, Tehri floating restaurant, Tehri floating long huts, among some. The Tehri adventure centre is expected to be complete by end of this year.

“Both medium and small tour operators should promote this domain.” Subhash Verma Immediate Past President, ADTOI & Chairman, Travel Plus

Apart from governmental initiatives, the travel trade also needs to be innovative and proactive to promote the Himalayan states, opines travel agents. “Both medium and small tour operators should promote this domain since there are few domestic tour operators who do so,” states Subhash Verma, immediate past president, ADTOI and chairman, Travel Plus. Furthermore, “Providing various package tours targeted at different tourists of different economic status with the diversity and tourism potential of the Himalayas are measures that can be taken. Special package tours covering major pilgrimages in Himachal Pradesh may be started to pull more domestic tourists to the Himalayan states,” opines Vishal Suri, chief executive officer- tour operating, Kuoni India. “Given the climate and topography, adventure sport activities like river rafting, paragliding and trekking could be tapped upon and made popular in the Himalayan states. Collective efforts by stakeholders in improving the facilities at various tourist destinations, development of new airports and improvement in quality of roads to increase connectivity to different tourist locations will help in drawing more tourists,” adds Suri.