"If we have love for the country , tourism is a field which can actually come up and prove this to the world",
Cricketing legend Kapil. Dev said in the meeting organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (Cll) at Taj Mansingh on I7th August." 2001. Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur and Mrs. Roy Director Cll followed the summit.

Recapitulating on the demand on tourism since a long time Mr .Kapil Dev said that - People in India has courage and majority , the only thing, which is lacking is the right direction.

Stressing on the contribution from the side of media he emphasised that media has the potential and if it gives a little time to this industry, can get it to new heights.

He expressed his willingness to be the ambassador for tourism and thereby contribute his brand for promoting India as a tourist destination.

"To promote tourism world-wide, it is necessary to change our attitudes first". Focussing on niche market for sports tourism, he said that our country is not based on sports tourism as compared to Spain or Australia. Our need at this hour is education- the key to our success.

Giving a note of thanks, Maharaja Gaj Singh of Jodhpur enlightened that tourism is looked upon as an elite seven star industry, which it. is not in case of India when compared to destinations like Spain. This is the high time that different people from different organisations should come together to change mindsets and mould the public opinion in order to give this industry a new look.

Kalpana Aggarwal
( Final Year Student )

CII- AGRA

In the developed countries, all historical sites, museums and places of tourist attraction are owned by the government but the marketing, promotion of tourism facilities is looked after by the private sector.

This is wha was stressed upon at the recently held CII International Conference-cum-Showcase on 13th &14th September, 2000 at Jaypee Palace in Agra.

On 13th Sept, 2000, the exhibition and showcase was inaugurated by Mr. Ashok Yadav-Minister of State for Tourism, Government of UP, followed by CEO’s Conclave where top government officials and corporate leaders formulated their Tourism Vision 2020 for India.

Mr.Ravi Boothalingam, Chairman of CII Tourism, who introduced the objective of this concert, embarked the conference.

Following the opening speech, Mr. Ashok Yadav, focussed on the present state of tourism in Agra and how it can be upgraded by the involvement of locals. He compared the scope of tourism 10years before with present era. As he rightly says: “From the very ancient times, when there was hardly any support from the rulers, people-rather everybody in India was to make sojourn to many places where, were the centers of faith and learning. Congregation on Kumbh in Allahabad, which is the biggest one in the world, is only one example. Of course, in the olden times such travelling were known as ‘Tirthatan’ i.e. pilgrimage.”

According to him the survey conducted by CII is considered to be the engine of growth for the upbringing of tourism, as it supports million jobs in India and is a major revenue generator. He said that they are offering CII 50 monuments for privatization but they expect the involvement of locals as a major part of attracting tourists. He also said that they are not planning to privatize monuments alone but they are presenting it as a package, consisting of travel agencies, hotels and other minor sections.

Other government officials who participated in this discussion were Mr. M.P.Bezbaruah, Secretary, Minister of Tourism, Dr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Member, Planning Commission, Mr. S.G.Awasthi, Chairman, CII U.P. State Council.

According to Mr. M.P.Bezbaruah the objective of privatization is:

• To meet the challenges of 21stcentury which means, rather then concentrating on macro section, it is preferable to focus on micro level of marketing.
• Secondly, to meet the changes in the tourism industry and cope up with the changing era.

He suggested certain key points for the successful tourism policy. They are:

• Quality: more importance should be given to quality rather than quantity, both in case of tourist and host.
• Continuity: the culture should be so effective that it helps in developing a continuum in the visit of a traveler.
• Balance: balance should be maintained between the needs of the industry and the environment in which it is operating.
• Perseverance: the culture and beauty of a country should be presented in such a way that it should make the tourist visit the host country frequently.

After focussing on the above points, Mr. Bezbaruah stated the positive and negative effects of tourism on the host country.

While talking about negative aspects, he threw a light on following points:

• Culture: the younger generation has started adopting the culture of tourists, which can lead to extinction of our own culture.
• Commercialization of art
• Lack in supply of demand
• Inadequate civic amenities
• Impact of tourism products from abroad

And regarding positive impacts, he said that today whatever art we have is just because of tourism. In other words, he wanted to say that our art is being revived due to tourism in our country.

He also mentioned about the development of tourist destinations like Varanasi, Vasco-da-Gama in Goa, and Cochin. After discussing the positive and negative impacts of tourism, he suggested certain ways of expanding tourism in India.

• Using IT in most comprehensive manner
• Involvement of private sector and local community
• Motivation
• Removal of bottlenecks

“India is fortunate in having a large range of tourism attractions offering a variety of experience. However, this potential is very far from being realized. India’s share in world tourism is very small and we have not succeeded in tapping the potential of this industry as many other countries in Asia have done. It is important for government and the private sector to work closely together to correct this deficiency. With more focussed attention and the active involvement of the government and the private sector, I have no doubts that we can develop our tourism and heritage assets to create a vibrant tourism industry in the near future”, said Mr. Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Mr. S.G.Awasthi ended the conference by giving a vote of thanks to the participants.

As the conference was attended by many foreign delegates, keeping in view the interest of the tourists, CII arranged a hot air balloon ride in the full moon light to view the beauty of Taj and also a visit to the main tourists spot in Agra.

During the full day conference, the discussion was focussed on Taj.
14th September, 2000

The second day of the conference was commenced by an inaugural session, where Mr. Ravi Boothalingam, Mr.Simon Bell, Mr.Ashok Yadav, Mr. Ananth Kumar-minister of Tourism and Culture and Mr. Vinayak Chatterjee addressed the delegates.

Mr. Simon Bell focussed on the main objective of CEO’s Conclave. According to him the principal purpose of conducting the CII survey was to find the visitor'’ opinion on India as a tourism spot.

Then he discussed as to what could be done to promote India as a tourism spot by putting light on the following points:

• Pre-arrival: more of marketing and updated information should be available.
• On-arrival: tourist’s on-arrival should be handed a guide or a handbook, giving information about the concerned destination.
• Getting from A to B: enough surface transport facilities should be available for visiting specially the tourism spots.
• “in town”: while tourists are in town there should be adequate facilities obtainable.
• Heritage environment: while looking into the needs of the visitor’s, our own resources should not be deteriorated.

Conclusion :

• Co-ordinate pressure to build political momentum.
• Manage the holistic consumer experience.
• Use the skills of the private sector to train the resources in government sector.
• Develop clean frameworks, then leverage the private sector.

After Mr. Simon Bell, it was the turn of Mr. Ashok Yadav.

Before starting with his part, he thanked Mr. Anath Kumar for taking out his precious time for attending the conference.

Then he continued with his speech focussing on the privatization. According to him government has invested Rs. 50 crore for the infrastructure in UP. He said that infrastructure needs the involvement of private sector for the purpose of expertise. The focus of the government will be on increasing the length of stay of tourists. The UP government has already started working on Taj National Park which lies just behind the Taj Mahal.

Regarding the law and order in UP, he said, “there will never be a problem in Agra where law and order is concerned.”

He compared China as a tourist destination with India. He said, “China is coming up as a giant international market”. Both the countries having the largest number of population, then why China but not India? Its just because that China treated its population as an asset for the country.

Then he discussed the opinion of the people on Agra as a tourism spot. Tourists belief that:

• Agra lacks an evening life. The whole day tourist can visit the historical palaces in Agra, but there is nothing left for tourists to do in evening or night. More of cultural life should be enhanced.
• Agra being a city of heritage and culture, should be promoted well. Also it should promote its ayurvedic treatments and yoga especially among the people who are stressed and are always in search of these treatments.

Following the speech of Mr. Ashok Yadav, Mr. Ananth Kumar also stressed upon the importance of infrastructure.