Rajasthan's Straight Talk and Hard Facts

Point Blank

By Hugh & Colleen Gantzer

The CII's Annual conference on tourism and heritage always generates great interest. To start with, the CII has considerable clout with the government: far more than our disunited tourism and hospitality industry can muster. Secondly, the CII talks to Indian Industry in general: it seeks to convert, it does not preach to the converted! Finally, it gets its priorities right: the minimum of hoopla (no laser shows or hyped up event managers, thank heavens!) the maximum of interactive sessions and time to network.

But having said that, we must admit that most of the sessions were exercises in wishful thinking: what should be done, what can be done, but not what is being done. The CII's tourism conference is, slowly, evolving into a Think Tank, particularly the CEO's Conclave. In a way, this is a good thing. Many of our revolving-door secretaries and directors of tourism view their predecessors' works with a jaundiced eye as if to say "Anything they have done we can do better!" Since they have neither the background nor the time to think seriously about tourism, they need to have their thinking done for them by experts who are neither politicians nor bureaucrats. Strange as this may sound, it works. In the past, for instance, the CEO's Conclave has influenced the thinking of the Planning Commission on tourism and that was, certainly, a significant achievement.

For pragmatic tourism industrialists, however, many of these policy initiatives are so much pie-in-the-sky. They want to know what's actually going to happen in the immediate future so that they can invest in the most promising project yielding good returns now. They need to know what the government is doing. This is seldom revealed. It, therefore, came as a pleasant surprise to hear the chief minister of Rajasthan, Vasundhara Raje, speaking on how Rajasthan is responding to the formidable challenges thrown up by India's Southern Exposures. Though, in truth she didn't actually mention other states except to refer to Mysore's Dussera Procession.

Here, then, is what we have extracted from our hurriedly scribbled notes of the CM's speech. It is what Rajasthan is doing to re-invent itself as northern India's preferred tourist destination.

"We have a road-map for tourism covering power, roads, drinking water, etc. All these will strengthen tourism in the state. Heritage is what makes tourism live-it is the heartbeat of the state. (But) The mindset of the people must be changed. (We understand that this was a reference to those who felt that she should not have emphasised the princely heritage of the state.) It is the history of a place that makes tourist come to that place. Britain exists on Royal Tourism. That's why we decided to reintroduce Royal Dussera. The Mysore Dussera has lost its flavour. We need to bring Royal tourism back. The past is an essential part of Tourism today.

What are we doing? We have simplified procedures, doubled the budget for 2004/2005; we are developing Jaipur Airport looking not at tomorrow but 15 years ahead.

We are also planning International Convention Centres. Government should move away from running tourism because we have no business to be in the business of tourism-the private sector should run it and the government should be the catalyst. We have earmarked 1,750 crores for urban development; 50 crores for heritage; also money for 18 museums across Rajasthan; and for restoration work on Ajmer Fort so it can be used for exhibitions, seminars etc. We plan to develop an International Golf Course. In Mount Abu irregular buildings will be pulled down and trees planted. Fairs and festivals is another area we want to develop. We also want to give incentives to people and showcase the Festivals. There are major fairs in our state. We are keen to promote weddings in Rajasthan (Presumably this is intended to encourage out-of-state and foreign, romantics to tie their nuptial knots in a fairy-tale Rajasthani way, full of princely pomp and pageantry!) And then we want to attract filmmakers by offering tax concessions: a Film City is also on the cards. We have got many good doctors and so we are looking at health tourism. We are also interested in religious tourism. We want to develop Nathdwara like Tirupati but, of course, it will have its own ambience."

The state's secretary of tourism, Vinod Zutshi, produced some impressive figures, which indicated that Rajasthan was on the right track. According to him, while International Tourism had recorded a fall of one per cent, worldwide, in 2003, foreign tourist arrivals in India had rise by 15 per cent. Even more impressive was Rajasthan's record for that year; an increase of 47 per cent. Looked at from another perspective, the foreign tourist arrivals in India from January to September 2004 had gone up by 2.9 per cent whereas there had been a rise of 47.8 per cent in the number of foreigners visiting Rajasthan in the same period.

In terms of foreign nationals visiting the state, the French accounted for 15 per cent…the French tend to be strongly culture-oriented…the Brits were next at 10 per cent probably reflecting their interest in history, tradition and regality; the Germans were eight per cent, the Americans seven per cent, which could indicate the need for an increased promotional thrust into this market emphasising Rajasthan's freedom from terrorist activities Italians six per cent...A Three Tenors' concern in one of the palaces on the lines of their performance in Beijing's Forbidden City would certainly boost these figures; Australia’s four per cent, Canadians four per cent, Japanese three per cent; and Swiss three per cent. The rest were unspecified `Others'. Based on the specific market penetrations that these figures reveal, however, Rajasthan might like to go it alone by buying their individual space in international tourism fairs rather than merging their unique personality in the overall kaleidoscope of India.

Rajasthan's major, single-attraction tourism success story, in recent years, has been its Palace on Wheels. Its replicas, launched by other states, have been appreciably less successful: few people like opting for copies when they can afford the real thing! Bookings on the Palace on Wheels for 2003-04 were 882; for 2004-05, 3,151; and for 2005-06 had already touched an advance figure of 942 as of November 2004.

Rajasthan's continuing emphasis on its heritage has resulted in its exemplary Adopt A Monument (AAM) scheme. The Archaeological Survey of India's efforts to involve the private sector in its heritage preserving plans have been sporadic and reluctant. In marked contrast to this is the expressed wish of the Government of Rajasthan. It has printed a clear-cut, no nonsense, policy to encourage individuals, corporate entities, organisations and associations, and even Non-Resident Rajasthanis to contribute to the conservation and preservation of 268 'monuments', though they rent' all monuments in the strict sense of the term. Some, like wall paintings and the Fossil Park in Akal Jodha, Jaisalmer are not structures but eminently worthy of protection all the same. Donors can choose their monument, make their contribution to the Heritage Fund managed and operated by the Rajasthan Adopt-A-Monument Society, advertise their contribution on the site, and receive an annual audit report on the utilisation of their donations.

This is one Rajasthani initiative that should, justifiably, sprout a number of successful clones.