India is a large country with a rich history.
The presence of this history is seen in the innumerable heritage sites
available throughout the country. India also has a rich religious diversity and
history. Almost every town and Village is dotted with incredible architectures
of ancient past. There are innumerable hills, mountains, rivers, lakes that
offer tremendous tourism possibilities. Add to this the need for modern
amusement parks, water parks and theme parks. And combine the wide variety of
handicrafts and other crafts.
Allow corporate sponsorship for heritage buildings
- One of the biggest charms
of Indian tourism is its architecture and wealth of historic
monuments. And there’s a long list of heritage monuments that are still
sitting in squalid environments.
- Various places in India have
ancient buildings and monuments. Due to various reasons these buildings
are not exactly like they used to be in the past.
- The walls are broken, structures
are collapsed. If these buildings are maintained and beautified, then
those can remarkably add value to the tourism.
- For example, there are many
palaces and old buildings in Pune, and those are in a very bad shape. ‘Shaniwar
wada’ which was once the epitome of power of Peshwas, is now
almost in ruins. There is just an outer wall which exists. The entire
internal structure is said to be burned in fire. It is said that the old
maps of this palace are still available. Various old documents have
references of the interiors of this place. If re-built, this will be the
biggest tourist attraction of the town.
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| Shaniwarwada |
- The famous Shakespeare’s Globe
theatre in London was burned in fire, but was rebuilt and is one of the
famous attractions of London. Then why can’t we renovate and restructure
our ancient monuments and palaces?
- An effective solution for this
would be to outsource the maintenance and exterior lighting of the
heritage monument to corporate giants in return for some branding
opportunity at the monument.
- Many think this is outright
commercialisation. But this is a much better option than leaving it an
abandoned state and let it decay.
Create experiences, not sightseeing spots
- If you closely notice, many
tourist destinations around the world are merely made up of created
experiences. Be it botanical gardens, architectural monuments, backwaters,
the Himalayas, the tourism ministry should see the potential of a place to
attract tourists rather than merely banking on the natural beauty of a
place.
- The tourism industry which
includes the government and private players, need to manipulate
destinations as experiences and not sightseeing point alone.
- For instance, steps can be taken
to make the tour replete with tour guides, activities for the children,
culinary tours, interactivity for the tourist with the culture of the
place etc.
Build great roads and access points
- It would completely wrong on
anyone’s part to simply say ‘Create better infrastructure’. This is a very
generic statement. But it is critical to build good roads and approach
points to a certain tourist destination.
- For foreign and domestic tourists
alike, a bumpy ride with potholes and a punctured tire only to reach an
exotic Indian destination is no good.
- Packaged train travel, easy bus
connections and safe car hire services with knowledgeable personnel
combines with great freeways and highways may sound utopian but are
critical features for an unmatched tourist experience.
Aggressive tourism marketing strategies
- Many people seem to be having a
problem with exoticizing India to the West but at some point if that
strategy allows for the raking in of moolah, then why not?
- We’re not promoting India as the
land of snakes and charmers anymore, but the tourism ministry should
surely pursue aggressive online and other marketing strategies to promote
India as a must-visit location.
- Whether it is broadcasting ‘Incredible India’ campaigns abroad, holding tourism seminars or offering Indian locations with facilities to promote foreign film productions in the country. Aggressive marketing is absolutely critical to be seen and heard well. Rajasthan k latest advertise mast hai and such innovative ideas could be replicated for other states too !!
Sell niche tourism areas separately
- India is currently in a position
where it can make a cash cow out of selling customized experiences, luxury
spa sessions, rare animal sanctuaries, religious pilgrimage tours and
extreme Himalaya tours.
- With too many points of
differentiation available, Indian tourism should focus on how it has
something on offer for everyone in every category with all budgets. India
on shoestring, India in luxury, the royal India, urban India, the common
man’s India, historical India and much more.
- India should take advantage of the West's
intrigue with Indian culture, including yoga, ayurvedic medicine, Hinduism
and meditation, and market itself accordingly.
- Developing standard Yoga and spiritual centers
who actually have courses on yoga and meditation can be a way forward.
This needs to be made sure that these centers are certified and an
authorized certification from government is provided to them. This activity
is to be given to famous groups in India who have maintained their
standard through many year
Secret Surveys and feedbacks
- Everybody in the system must
understand that they are watched and their jobs depend on their
performance.
- If they don’t perform, there will
be an end to their career. This will ensure the discipline and system will
be followed accordingly. Surveys and feedbacks will help maintaining
this.
Temple
Festivals
- Khajuraho Dance
Festival, Lokrang Festival, Lohri celebration etc are not the only known
festival which attracts tourism, but small festival, local cultural event
and annual celebration in Rural places is a Big opportunity to attracts
tourism.
- For this the
State wise tourist booklet should be available for free to Tourist online
and in Tourist information centers.
- Book should
contain festival name, description, history, and number of attendee in
last few years, pictures and etc. This need to be heavily published,
televised, advertised so that essence of diverse colours of INDIA pull
tourists towards it !!
As far
as RURAL TOURISM in specific is concerned !!
Rural tourism also called farm tourism offers
a “ back to nature” exposure
1. Identify USP’s/strengths of villages in
each state – Handicrafts, Folk music, Dance, Puppet shows, Theatre/Street
dramas, Madhubani painting, villages which are completely into organic farming,
herbal, yoga and meditation centres
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2. Highlight education wonders like “Anand’s
IIT mission” in Bihar. Identify such Indian achievements across states
3. Document histry of such chosen places for
visitors/tourists to go through them
4. Develop infrastructure in all such
villages
5. Ask MP’s , leading personalities ,
corporates to adopt such villages under Aadarsh Gram yojna
6. Get basics right – from hygiene, water,
road and good shelter.
7. Villagers and Paying guest landlords
should be trained on ways to address foreign tourists
8. Create clusters of the following
a. Such villages in each state that give a
complete picture of the state, rural way of living, culture
b. Of northern india, eastern india, southern
india, Central India and western india
c. Encourage tourist operators to organize
state and national packages which are rural only packages, mix of rural and
urban packages
9. Encourage NGO’s, Private players to play a
major role in development and management of such clusters of villages
10. Ensure paying guest accommodations as
business model is encouraged so that landlords and farmers can develop
necessary infrastructure to provide right lodging for tourists
11. Encourage farmers and landlords to have
separate zone within their farmland to educate the following kinds of people
a. Budding agricultural students
b. Tourists – Domestic and foreign
c. Urban kids and families never exposed to
hardships but willing to understand
12. Expose visiting tourists/ families to
basic work in the village – from milking cows, cleaning of barns, entertain the
rural population, pump water etc.
13. Encourage and involve visiting families
and tourists to work in the farm and earn based on effort and time put in to
understand what a farmer goes through to earn whetever he does. This will send
a clear message about hard work
14. Involve village bodies like Sarpanch and
others in planning for rural tourism
15. It will provide business opportunities
for rural community
Moral
of the STORY !!
The Tourism industry in India is a very
promising Industry and has potential to become one of the leading employers of
Indians. Professional management and additional infrastructure and maintaining
high standards are needed so that TOURISTs can enjoy his visit to the fullest
extent and we create EMPLOYMENT and spur GROWTH !!
