Meet Challenges With Determination

Gour Kanjilal, regional director (western and central India), Indiatourism (Mumbai) believes the World Tourism Day theme – ‘Tourism: A driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony’ – is particularly apt for India...

The growth of tourism as one of the biggest industry of the world has been well established. World tourism arrivals have gone up from 70 million in 1960 to 700 million in 2000 and receipts from US$ 6.9 billion to US$ 476 billion during the same period. It has surpassed industries like petrochemicals, automobiles and others in terms of output.

India’s growth in tourism has also been laudatory. In 1950, we received 17,000 arrivals and Rs 77 crore in foreign exchange earnings. In 2000, it had gone up to 2.67 million arrivals and over Rs 14,000 crore in foreign exchange earnings. Though it is not as big an achievement as compared to our neighbouring countries, we can take heart in the fact that India can look forward to a better growth in coming days if tourism challenges are met with determination, specially in the areas of infrastructure improvement and if we continue to get investments in tourism-related fields like airports, seaports, etc.

Tourism constitutes inter-related activities and immense job opportunities, importantly in the backward and rural areas through its linkages with the labour intensive service sectors. Pilgrim tourism in the Himalayan region has brought numerous job opportunities in these distant locations and areas. Eco-tourism, which is mainly in the deep forest region, lakes and rivers in the interiors of India, has led to a proliferation of local jobs encompassing guides, service providers for trekkers, accommodation in villages, local handicrafts, local cuisine, festivals. In fact, tourism is the source to bring social and economic benefits from developed areas to the underdeveloped areas. It has helped in supporting local communities by making them partners (in wildlife tourism, trekking tours, nature tours, etc). Social benefits are now a motivating factor for tourism. Ladakh’s success in becoming a major tourist destination from scratch, amply testifies to the immense value of tourism for poverty alleviation and as a force to create jobs.

In Kerala, focused tourism activities have given jobs to over 4,000 boatmen and has boosted the local boat production. Similarly, the revival of India’s centuries-old Ayurvedic treatments have given jobs to over thousands of villagers who are taking good care of the forests from where they have to collect basic ingredients for herbal medicines. Thus nature conservation is providing an effective route for socio-economic development and local people are involved and benefiting.

No doubt the theme for World Tourism Day 2003 – ‘Tourism: a driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony’ – as announced by the World Tourism Organisation, is very apt. The main strength of Indian tourism at present is it being the major force for creating employment. It is estimated that about eight million jobs are created in the country through tourism directly and another seven million indirectly.

In the various forms of tourism like pilgrim tourism, adventure tourism, eco-tourism, health tourism, etc. we have the ingredients to provide employment in distant locations and thereby help in improving the economic condition of the poor.