30 Minute Interview

'Without infrastructure, Incredible India will lose its credibility'

Ambika Soni, Union minister for tourism & culture, Government of India, talks about the initiatives taken in the recent past towards making India a robust brand. By P R Subas Chandran

Ambika Soni Union Minister for Tourism & Culture, Government of India

What are the major initiatives in terms of tourism development in the country?

Creation of tourism infrastructure in the country is crucial to unleashing the full potential of tourism. In close co-ordination with several ministries in the government and the state governments, we are addressing the problems of road, rail and air connectivity in important tourist destinations, creating additional hotel rooms.

In addition, we will be developing niche tourism products such as medical, wellness, adventure, wildlife, cruise, river, tea and rural tourism. Our primary target is to create 15 tourist destinations that are truly world class by themselves. We are in the process of identifying these destinations with the support of the private sector. Similarly, in collaboration with state governments, we are planning to set up four shopping complexes at different locations to promote shopping tourism of our rural art and handicrafts. We are aware of the imperative need for world-class infrastructure without which the Incredible India campaign will lose its credibility.

What are your main focus areas in terms of making India tourism more robust?

We are keen to have public-private partnership models to create infrastructure. Our ministry's special Large Revenue Generating Scheme could be utilised for this purpose. The Finance Minister has also provided tax incentives for budget category hotels up to four-star in the NCR region. Another significant development in this regard was the B&B scheme according to which a house owner can rent out up to a maximum of five rooms for tourists without having to pay any commercial taxes. We have also been able to get the FM's approval for abatement of service tax up to 75 per cent for tour operators to help them achieve greater competitiveness.

Are you looking at a renewed boost towards branding India?

Our sustained Incredible India campaign has made India a popular destination in the world. This is evident from the fact that India has won numerous international awards. This year India was chosen as the Most Preferred Holiday Destination by Conde Nast and PATA has declared the Incredible India Campaign as the winners of the Grand Award for Marketing. Our participation in WTM, ITB, and festivals such as 'India Seasons' in London and 'Incredible India @ 60' in New York have worked wonders for Indian tourism.

The public-private partnership route has been a success in most states. What other modules do you think can help India?

Public-private partnerships are most useful modules in creating tourism infrastructure. Similarly we would like private participation in the upkeep and preservation of our monuments and libraries. We need not only the expertise but also the resources. It is for this purpose we have set up the National Cultural Fund. Members of the corporate sector, industry, private and philanthropy could contribute to this fund and avail full tax incentives for their contributions while helping to preserve India's heritage.

What numbers do you foresee in terms of domestic and international tourists by 2010?

If you look at tourist inflows into South East Asia and Pacific countries, their numbers are much larger than ours. This is because we started our focus on tourism rather late. But we are catching up at a faster rate - last year touched 4.2 million which is an increase from 3.2 million in 2005. This year we are likely to touch five million. But the most impressive growth has been in domestic tourism which last year touched a record 395 million - nearly a third of the total population in India. By 2010, the foreign tourist traffic is likely to touch 10 million and the domestic tourist traffic to cross 500 million.