‘Our Aim Is To Project Rajasthan As A Year-Round Destination’

Vinod Zutshi, secretary to the government, department of tourism and civil aviation, chairman, RTDC Ltd and RSHC Ltd, commissioner, Rajasthan Foundation, tells Reema Sisodia, that Rajasthan is ready with renewed energy and strategies

What does the award mean to Rajasthan?

It is truly an endorsement of the efforts that Rajasthan tourism has put in especially during the last year. Though sometime ago, we were not in the limelight, there has been a change and we have recharged our strategy and thought with regards to tourism. We have complete support from the chief minister as she has kept the tourism portfolio with her. She is also the cabinet minister of tourism. Comparing the figures of 2003 to 2004, we have shown growth in the first nine months itself, for example in the month of September 2004, Rajasthan received six lakh foreign tourists and one
crore 30 lakh domestic tourists, which is a 48 per cent growth since the last year. Apart from beaches, Rajasthan has all ingredients of being a premier tourism destination. Unlike other deserts in the world, the Rajasthan deserts are full of colour and life. From the Pushkar Camel festival to other interesting fairs and festivals, Rajasthan has a lot to offer.

What would you regard as the secret of your success?

We have launched a massive media and advertising campaign, in magazines that reach millions of people across India. In our campaign, we have featured unique properties of our state along with other specialties. In fact in the month of October 2004, we have launched an extensive campaigns in the international media, covering all gamuts of the media, from electronic to radio. We have done our spade work and a lot of research before we decided upon our campaign. Royal Tourism is also a facet that we have emphasised upon for our visitors both national and international. To add to this, our media budget has been increased five times more as compared to 2003.

How do you plan to retain your success?

We are making efforts to continue the inflow of tourist arrivals in the state. The growth rate is important for us and we are trying to improvise every time with regards to our product as well as our strategy towards promoting and marketing the product.

What are the future plans with regards to Rajasthan tourism?

Our aim is project Rajasthan as a year round destination. We aim to promote and develop summer festivals and also improve the night life, so that it
can also be perceived as a destination that can be visited during the summer months. We also have a project going of around Rs 1,750 crore for urban development. There are strong initiatives to make Jaipur an international airport and develop a state-of-the-art convention centre in the region. Developing the Udaipur region to international standards in terms of infrastructure and connectivity is also in the formulation stage. We are also hoping for members of the corporate segment to come forward and take responsibility of developing, promoting and conducting unique fairs and festivals in the state.

The Evaluation Criteria

The award for the ‘Best Visual Advertising Campaign’ was evaluated on the following criteria's:

• The best advertising campaign (television/print/hoarding) across the organisation, along with the following:

a) Description of the theme.

b) Copies of newsprint's, CD's, VCD’s of the advertisement televised and photographs of hoardings (if any) and supporting documents and collateral's.

• This campaign was judged based on the fact that it should have been run at least once and for the first time during the period April 1, 2003 to March 31, 2004.