Drive to get more tourists

The Ministry of Tourism wants to make the vision of the President of the country into a reality. It has planned an over drive to get 15 millions foreign tourists in the country by the year 2010. Rajeev Talwar, additional director general of the ministry tells Amitabh Shukla that there are some hurdles but they would be overcome with spirited efforts.

Q: What have been the recent thresholds in terms of tourism in the country?

A: We have managed to get 4 million foreign tourists and the earnings from this sector are five billion dollars. This is a new high for the country. The growth rate is 15 percent – one of the highest anywhere in the world. We are now gearing for the 15 million mark by 2010 when the Commonwealth Games will be held in Delhi.

Q: The achievements could be impressive but what are the bottlenecks which is preventing a further growth of tourism in the country?

A: Well, we are doing the coordination part of the entire effort to get more and more foreign tourists. Various ministries and state governments are involved in the exercise and we are sending continuous reminders to upgrade the facilities. For instance, we want an open air policy so that more airlines operate from the country. The ministry of civil aviation is already doing it and a large number of airlines have now got permission to operate from the country.

Q: Do we have sufficient international gateways for the foreign tourists?

A: Ideally, we should have around 50-60 international gateways with facilities of an international airport. The new destinations in this segment are Pune, Nagpur, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bodh Gaya, Guwahati, Kochi etc. We want more of such places so that the tourists can have more options.

Q: Infrastructure to support 15 million foreign tourists is missing in the country. How can the infrastructure be upgraded and what role is the Tourism ministry playing in this effort?

A: We have repeatedly stressed on the need for the state governments to compete with each other for Rs 45,000 crore worth of investment in all categories of hotels in the next few years. The minister has been continuously reminding the state governments that land is given on the lease hold basis so that the cost of hotel construction is reduced. We need 1.5 lakh new rooms of all categories to accommodate the flow of tourists in the country.

Q: What have been the successes on the hotel and accommodation front?

A: It has been estimated that 35,000 hotel rooms under various categories are coming up all over the country. The Indian Railways have already issued tenders for the construction of budget hotels under Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. Delhi too is coming up with a plan to create more space for the tourists. In Delhi, the policy is to auction the plots. If it is leased, the cost would come down and would be much better for the growth of tourism. We have asked for speedy approval of the hotel projects.

Q: The visa bottlenecks is paramount for the foreign tourists? Has any effort been taken to outsource the issuance of visa as various foreign countries do here in Delhi?

A: The issuance and validity of visas is an area which needs to be looked into. Those who come to India for conferences, get a conference visa. Ideally, they should get tourist visas so that they can see the country on a business visit. The validity of the visas could also be extended. Outsourcing issuance of visas would definitely facilitate the foreign tourists.

Q: What spurs the tourism ministry?

A: It’s simple. The tremendous potential of the tourism sector to generate jobs in minimum of investment. It has been found that each Rs 10 lakh invested in tourism generates 89 jobs. On the other hand such an amount invested in manufacturing would generate only 13 jobs and in agriculture only 45 jobs. (26.11.2005)