TravTalk India Online Magazine
Rupinder Brar, Additional Director General, Tourism, shared how they are preparing to offer an experiential journey for tourists and also planning region specific events to trigger the travel bug amongst people, while ensuring the bottlenecks in infrastructure development are taken care of.
Nisha Verma
In line with the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day— ‘Tourism for inclusive growth’, RupinderBrar believes that MOT is looking at travel, tourism and hospitality providing a lot of employment opportunities across the socio-economic spectrum. “It’s an opportunity to work at the grassroot level, to ensure community involvement and ensure that the benefits flow back to the society at large, through inclusive tourism in India. MOT is working on rural tourism with MSME ministry to identify such clusters. We are also working on the experiential journey of tourists, where one doesn’t just see a monument or a place, but should be able to interact with the local people including artisans, musicians, or story
tellers.” she stressed.
Opening of borders
Brar believes that, with the Prime Minister giving indication of opening borders, it shows that the government is also keen on this. “They understand how important travel and tourism are for the economy, and in bringing people together and bringing the joie de vivre back. While it’s the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Home that will lead the discussion on opening, but as the Ministry of Tourism, we are beneficiaries of an opening and are in a state of preparedness.”
Take away from Assam
After the recent meeting of tourism and culture ministers in Guwahati, Brar reveals that connectivity was the major focus. “We had everyone from Ministry of Roads, IRCTC and Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA). We discovered that a lot of work was happening in all these sectors within the region, which spells for a very bright future for travel and tourism in the Northeast region,” she said.
Under MoCA’s UDAN 4.0 scheme, there is focus on Northeast, she revealed. “There are a number of routes being worked on by MoCA where we as MOT have suggested many of them and have also given Viability Gap Funding (VGF). With Ministry of Culture, there was focus on cultural events. We had sessions on tourism infrastructure and progress under SwadeshDarshan and the PRASHAD scheme was keenly reviewed. There were also interactions on digital promotion and overall promotional strategy, all of which were chaired by the minister himself. We had discussions with the stakeholders, where many good suggestions, feedback, and ideas came forth. Under the MoU signed with IRCTC, many routes are being crafted beyond Guwahati and interesting itineraries will be coming up.” she highlighted.
The key takeaway, said Brar “We need to do much more coordinated work with each state in Northeast. Also, there was a clear understanding that all need to work in a harmonised way so that the benefits of one department or one ministry flow back to all the sectors.”
Way forward
MOT is planning state specific events where more granular work shall be done, said Brar. “We are trying to do as much as we can. In the first week of October, we will be taking a domestic Fam tour on the Buddhist train from Jaipur to Bodhgaya, Nalanda, Rajgir and closing in Varanasi and coming back. The idea is to showcase the IRCTC Buddhisttrain as a product and these destinations as important part of the Buddhist circuit and beyond. Hon. Minister will also be present in the Varanasi leg of the journey.” she updated.
Also, on the lines of Northeast, an event will be held in South India. “A similar initiative shall be led by the Minister in South India in Karnataka. Either it will be in Bengaluru and Hampi, or just in Hampi.”
While the participation in WTM is still under works, MOT is on track with organising the next ITM for Northeast in Nagaland. “It will be a physical event, and is scheduled just before Hornbill Festival, as suggested by the Minister. The idea is to benefit from the energy of Hornbill. Since the festival starts from December 1, ITM will be on 28-30th November and preparations are afoot for the event.” she concluded.
