Surprise, Surprise...

This year seems to be a watershed year for Indian tourism in more ways than one. There are many milestones in sight and a few significant achievements. Having said that 2003-04 has also had its share of surprises. With tourism threatening to take centre stage there was always an air of expectancy that hung around the recent elections and the post developments, especially in the light of the fact that the past year has seen record numbers in inbound tourism, outbound tourism, domestic tourism and charters. Not many would have predicted the new government at the Centre and even fewer would have foreseen a new lady tourism minister in Renuka Chowdhury. Her ascension to the post of minister of state with independent charge of tourism has sparked off mixed reactions among the various factions of the travel trade.

The ministry has been downgraded from Cabinet rank to minister of state rank and there have been widespread debates whether tourism would rank as high on the new government’s agenda as it was with the previous government. There has also been widespread speculation on whether the new incumbent would be able to carry on and build upon the inroads created by Jagmohan and his team. Amidst all this speculation with the new minister comes the news that there might be a brand new team at the ministry to assist the tourism minister with her new agenda as almost the entire existing team of bureaucrats, barring a few exceptions, will be taking up new assignments in next few months.

However, what must be said is that Renuka Chowdhury, known for her firebrand attitude and temperament, which in a way is in stark contrast to her predecessor - the calm and collected Jagmohan, is making the right initial noises. For a party which does not quite enjoy the popular impression of being tourism-friendly and with an immediate predecessor who was voted as the most tourism-friendly minister ever, the new incumbent has a lot on her shoulders. Will she or won’t she, is a Rs 500 crore question (her requisition for tourism) which the entire industry is waiting to observe. For starters, the change in guard has been rather graceful as our cover story will reveal.

The new minister has been received with a certain degree of positivity which stems more from her immediate demeanour than any political history. Her timely comments on the visa-on-arrival issue, medical tourism, boosting Indo-Pak tourism alliances, focus on religious and cultural tourism and strengthening the image of ‘Brand India’ have gone down well with the industry at large and has also clearly indicated that here is a minister who is prepared to do her homework instead of shooting off the mouth in an attempt to impress at grand press interviews while assuming office. What now remains to be seen is whether she delivers on her new agenda with an eye on the future... that certainly will be a pleasant surprise!

WTTC - The Indian Victory

The WTTC Global Summit 2004 held in Doha, Qatar last month was another really pleasant surprise for anyone involved with the travel and tourism business in India. While the conference itself was a huge success in terms of profile and participation, I was privileged to be witness to one of the most impressive presentations on Indian tourism to an international audience comprising worldwide tourism heavyweights and a fair sprinkling of international media. The Indian delegation, led by N K Singh from the Planning Commission, and ably supported by Amitabh Kant, Yogesh Chandra, Lalit Suri, Ashwini Kakkar, Raymond Bickson, Radha Bhatia, Vivek Nair, etc, had the audience captivated by a presentation that had an unmistakable underlying message: We mean business, and tourism holds the key to the business of a New India.

There were only two country presentations at the conference - India and Spain, and with such opportunities few and far between, may I take this opportunity to gloat about the fact that the Spanish presentation was not a patch on the Indian one. Kudos to our team from ‘tourism India’ and may the future have many more such surprises in store...

Editor

editor@expresstravelandtourism.com