A shot in the arm for recreational tourism

Kerala Tourism has started benefiting from surfing and wave riding, now a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide. The country’s first ever national three-day Surfing and Stand up Paddle competition that commenced in Kovalam on Friday is a shot in arm for Kerala Tourism’s effort over the years to tap the huge potential for recreational tourism.
Over 100 surfers from within the country and abroad are taking part in the competition and the event has been billed as a great way to commence Surf tourism.
Tourists arriving at the famed beach resort over the last two years had been looking forward to surfing, wave riding, scuba diving, snorkelling, boating and water skiing.

Artificial reef

The host of water sports had been made possible with commissioning of a multipurpose artificial soft reef off the Light House. Installed between the Light House and the Edakkal rocks, the reef has protected the eroding coast and had made Kovalam a round-the-year surfing destination. Since then, the reef had been able to stabilise the beaches and make them wider by eliminating the wave power offshore. Tourists are also getting sheltered swimming.
The Rs.7.8-crore project, funded under the Centre’s tsunami rehabilitation programme, was executed by the New-Zealand-based Artificial Surfing Reef Ltd. through the Department of Harbour Engineering for Kerala Tourism.  

Visa on arrival

With Tourist Visa on Arrival soon to be launched at Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, the tourism authorities are hoping to prevent the movement of surfers from Kovalam to adjoining Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Besides, Kovalam will get free publicity and the tourism authorities can now market it as a surfing destination around the world.

Goa tourism department bans drinking on beaches

The Department of Tourism in Goa has banned drinking and carrying of liquor bottles on beaches in the state. Goa's image has taken a beating recently, largely due to a spate of crimes against foreign tourists, rising prices and its overcrowded beaches.

The Director of Tourism Department in Goa, Nikhil Desai, said they took the decision to ban consumption of liquor on beaches to make tourists feel safer.

"Now, if people want to come to Goa, they are our guests, we will welcome them. Let them have drink in shacks or inhotels or any other licensed premises, which is perfectly legal, and let them behave responsibly so that Goa continues to remain beautiful not only for them, but for other tourists and other stakeholders who are part of this industry," said Desai in Panaji.

Tens of thousands of tourists visit Goa to enjoy its sun kissed beaches, which are also famous for night-long parties. The tourism department has also asked the state police to increase patrolling to prevent the tourists from breaking glass bottles on the beaches.

The President of All Goa Liquor Traders Association, Dattaprasad Naik, however, said the ban would affect liquor traders and sales.

Goa attracts over 2.6 million tourists annually. The surf, sun and cheap liquor are some of the main draws of the state, which is one of the top beach tourism destinations in the country.

Best City Awards to Gujarat

Gujarat cities again create benchmark in urban planning, transparency and resources. Surat gets best city award, Ahmedabad runners up.

Gujarat has been adjudged with four prestigious awards by the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) in different categories at a function held here. Out of total six awards, four awards were received by Gujarat for Overall Quality of Life in all parameters and Quality of City and Governance. Surat bagged best city award for Quality of Life and Governance while Ahmedabad city ranked third. All the four awards were received by Shri I.P. Gautam Principal Secretary (Urban Development) of Gujarat Government and Shri Manoj Das, Commissioner Surat from Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus, Infosys Ltd.

The cities were ranked on a primary survey of 11 India’s largest cities and two global benchmarks, London and New York. Gujarat has received a number of national and international awards in last decade for Good Governance. Under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi as Chief Minister, Gujarat has developed one of the best infrastructures in the country and created conducive environment for its people to realize their full potential and excel in their chosen vocation.

Gujarat has invigorated the development of its cities and urban spaces with innovative ideas and their speedy implementation for long term, robust urban growth. In the last decade, the State Government has taken a series of initiatives dedicated to urban areas that have generated wonderful results. Gujarat’s pioneering initiatives in areas such as water management, disaster management, health care, education, women empowerment, rural development, industrial development, investment promotion have been studied far and wide and several of them have been replicated and up-scaled in other states of the country.

Recently, “India Today- awarded Gandhinagar, Surat Rajkot and Vadodara for providing best public services to the citizens.

“Chalo Chalen Bengal”: First-Ever Month-Long Campaign for Tourism Promotion in West Bengal Launched in Delhi on the 4th April 2013

As part of the campaign, with the attractive catch-line of “Chalo Chalen Bengal” (Let’s Visit Bengal), picturesque and high-quality advertisement panels depicting premier tourist attractions of the State will be displayed in 15 such bus shelters across Delhi, apart from the city airport and key railway stations.

In keeping with the multi-dimensional approach to present the tourist-friendly atmosphere of the State, the Hon’ble Minister also inaugurated a new state-of-the-art tourism information centre at the WBICC office, equipped with high-speed internet connection and other modern facilities. He opened a Photography Exhibition titled “Beautiful Bengal” by Shri Sanjay Das at the Muktadhara Art Gallery at WBICC, with an objective to project to the visitors the myriad hues of West Bengal.

Indo-Pak relations in connection with tourism

Published in http://www.theregionaltourism.org/newsletter-Jan2013.php

For both India and Pakistan’s economic growth and peace initiatives, it would be recommended that more measures need to be taken to increase the level of tourism, especially religious tourism between the two countries. Ease of visa procedures for citizens who want to avail of existing CBMs (confidence building measures) such as bus and rail services plays a vital part in improving more tourism avenues with both countries. This includes Hindus and Sikhs who want to visit places of religious worship in Pakistan, apart from tourist destinations in Pakistan such as Taxila, and Pakistanis who want to visit religious shrines and other tourist spots in India such as the Taj Mahal.

Tourism, especially visits to religious shrines, carries on regardless of tension and obviously helps in generating goodwill. Couple of months after the Mumbai attack, some Sikh pilgrims who were a little wary of visiting Pakistan went ahead and received a warm welcome. Aside from the goodwill these visits create, there is immense economic potential, especially for the Pakistani economy, which is facing numerous challenges. Of course, the present number of Indian tourists and religious pilgrims is not contributing substantially to the Pakistani economy––a substantial increase in the number of tourists would definitely do so. Pakistan, has to its credit, renovated some important Sikh shrines and temples and also is working on improving accommodation facilities there.

The efforts till now have not been very successful though due to several factors. One of the chief reasons is procuring Pakistan Visa, a Sikh pilgrim has to travel all the way to Delhi and go to the pilgrimage centre in Pakistan. So a maximum 50 km travel extends to more than 500 kms! The best way of addressing this problem could be to have more Pakistani consulates in cities such as Jodhpur, Amritsar and Kanpur and add to the number of Indian consulates in Pakistan. Or visas can be issued twice a week in smaller towns from where there is adequate demand. This will be useful not only for tourists, but even businessmen and traders residing in the borders of both countries.

A “religious corridor” also has been mooted to augment visits and return on the same day. The Indian side however, has not responded much on this yet. Besides religious visits, many people would like to visit their ancestral homes, and such visits are a major boost to tourism related initiatives happening in both countries. In 2011, Pakistan-born Balbir Singh Bhasin, wrote to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari pleading for help in achieving, ‘the last dream of my life (namely) to offer sajda (respect) to my zameen.’ Within a few days Bhasin was issued a visa by the Pakistan High Commission in India. The visit was an eye-opener for the septuagenarian and all as he was received with overwhelmingly warmth and hospitality.

Visa-on-arrival can be considered for people born before 1947 or senior citizens. Some initiatives to attract travel agents on both sides to conduct group tours to re-connect to their ancestral properties, visit their villages and also meet and exchange cordialities with other people will not only help augment more tourism but may boost a feeling of goodwill and help reduce tension across borders.

The setting up of the The Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari is a positive step to boost to bilateral trade between the two countries and take them closer to the target of $10 billion. The ICP is not a boon only for traders, but a great help to tourists. The facility has arrival and departure jatha sheds for the comfort of religious tourists who earlier faced discomfort as they had no proper place to sit while completing customs and immigration formalities.

Speaking at the fourth Annual General Meeting of the Travel Agents Association of Kashmir (TAAK) recently held at a local hotel in Srinagar, Rauf Tramboo, President, TAAK, expressed satisfaction over talks between India and Pakistan on Cross-LoC Tourism. “We hope in the near future, tour operators from both sides chalk out a single itinerary for tourists who wish to visit both areas. It was TAAK that coined the phrase ‘Cross-LoC Tourism’, suggesting that the Indian government add tourism activities across the Line of Control (LoC),” Tramboo said, according to a report by Greater Kashmir. “Such steps will boost tourism on both sides and will act as a peace initiative between India and Pakistan,” he added.

Written by Jayanthi Raghavan Iyengar ITEC India who lives in Noida (Delhi National Capital Region) and runs a Multimedia Development company. Over the last 6 years she has established a B2B catalog that now specializes in liaisoning, networking and fostering relationships with foreign travel agents and State Tourism Boards. She is also the representative of IIPT (International Institute of Peace through Tourism), USA in India. She is also the founder of a non profit initiative, Eternal Energy that is very active in Delhi NCR area. Jayanthi firmly believes in the established fact that tourism across borders is a strong mitigation towards peace and good relations across countries.

Tripura, the tourism hotspot for the devout

Hidden from the view of travellers for centuries, exquisite images of 15th century Hindu gods and goddesses carved on a hill at Devtamura in Tripura's south district are now attracting tourists in droves.
The site is full of images of Lord Shiva, Ganesha, Kartika, Mahisasur Mardini, Durga and others carved on the steep wall of the Kalajhari hill.

The unexplored site is just 75 kilometers from Agartala and overlooking the Gomati river and is being visited by hordes of tourists. Devtamura, also known as Chabinmura, is picturesque and is largely inhabited by the Reang tribe. The lush green vegetation and little bamboo-straw dwellings of the tribals are as much a point of attraction for the tourists as the images.

TTDC plans to organise cultural festivals

Taking a cue from the response to the famous dance festival at Mamallapuram, the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has chalked out a plan to organise cultural festivals at important tourist destinations. A calendar of events has been drawn up, taking into consideration the time of arrival of foreign tourists at these spots. The programmes include, classical and light music dances and thematic presentations.

Currently, the stay of foreign tourists in the State ranges from eight to ten days. They invariably stay for a day or two at each place such as Chennai, Kancheepuram, Mamallapuram, Puducherry, Tranquebar, Tiruchi, Kumbakonam, Darasuram, Thanjavur, Tiruchi, Madurai, Kodaikanal and Kanyakumari. Those visiting Udhagamandalam tend to skip Kodaikanal and vice versa. By conducting month-long festivals, the Tourism Department wants foreign visitors to experience other destinations as well.