Saudamini Mahey
After decades of so-called mass tourism, we are experiencing a renewal of tourism globally. In search of authenticity, which is motivated by the desire to discover other people in their natural, social and cultural settings. So-called ‘cultural tourism’, which includes forms of religious tourism and tourism linked to Heritage and culture of a region.
Cultural tourism is growing at an unprecedented rate and now accounts for around 40% of global tourism
The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 ranked india very high on natural and cultural resources (ranked 9th and 24th). World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) forecasts that between 2016 and 2026, the 10 fastest growing destinations for leisure-travel spending will be India, followed by Angola, Uganda, Brunei, Thailand, China, Myanmar, Oman, Mozambique and Vietnam.5. The World Travel & Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated 14.02 lakh crore (US$220 billion) or 9.6% of the nation’s GDP in 2016 and supported 40.343 million jobs, 9.3% of its total employment.
About 88.90 lakh (8.89 million) foreign tourists arrived in India in 2016 , recording a growth of 10.7Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur have been the five most visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2015.
Thanks to the plurality and multiplicity of the Indian Culture, tourism is benefitting Indian economy immensely.
With 35 (27 cultural, 7 natural and 1 mixed) World Heritage Sites and 12 representations of intangible heritage ranging from Sanskrit Theatre, Koodiyattam Kerala to Kalbelia of Rajasthan or Buddhist chanting of Ladakh recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of July 2016,india has become one of the most lucrative options for tourists globally.
After India became a soverign republic the Planning Commission of India was set up on 15 March 1950. This Commission in its very first plan envisaged that culture is integral to the Planning process as a whole.
With every subsequent Plan periods, the Government of India founded a number of institutions like the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (1950), the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1953), ), the National School of Drama (1959 etc.for the safeguarding and development of Tangible/Intangible Arts of the State. After ratification of the Convention of Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2005, Government has placed further serious efforts through its various agencies, to support the elements of Intangible Cultural Heritage by various ways for their growth, sustenance, further visibility, and development.
The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) founded in 1984 in New Delhi has pioneered the conservation and preservation of not just our natural and man-made heritage but also tangible and intangible heritage through various divisions
In December 2005, the Heritage Tourism Division was set up to extend INTACH’s mandate beyond conservation to include a cogent system of sustaining conserved sites to facilitate people to have access to and understand heritage sites. Heritage has become the mainstay of Indian tourism and will only gain in strength in the future. Tourism INTACH’s initiative in Raghurajpur (a village in Odisha) was part of the first group of 14 villages chosen by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India for the development of Rural Tourism. Examples like making Pragpur-Grali a Heritage Zone, undertaking guide training programmes for UNESCO – designated world heritage sites in India, promoting trekking routes in Sikkim, developing Agra-Braj Coridor. The list of undertakings is immense.
The ministry of tourism through the incredible India campaign in 2002 has rebranded India in the international market .Indian culture being at the soul of every campaign.
Whether the campaign ‘777 days of the Indian Himalayas’ in 2013 or ‘Adithi Devo Bhava’in 2015, incredible India has increased both international and domestic tourism in India.
Even state govts. have realized the potential our multicultural land has. Gujarat government spent nearly USD13 million for the ‘Khusbhoo Gujarat Ki’ campaign, which featured Amitabh Bachchan, brand ambassador of the state; the campaign was a huge success The campaign led to an increase in the number of visitors to 5.4 million in the last two years
Kerala successfully marketed its serene backwaters, wildlife sanctuaries, ayurvedic treatments and temple festivals. In 2016, Kerala tourism generated approx USD6.1 billion.
Initiatives such as the National Culture Fund (NCF), set up under the ministry of tourism and culture in 1996, were started by the government to establish a platform for channelizing private investments in the field of culture preservation. A total of 100 monuments of national significance have been identified and have been put up for adoption.
Public sector companies like ONGC, Indian Oil, NTPC and GAIL are playing a pioneering role in cultural preservation and development at these sites. Tata group assisted the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) through grants in the past. Coca-Cola India was involved in the restoration of two 400-year-old step wells in Rajasthan – The Sarai Bawari and Kale Hanuman Ki Bawari.
Under ‘Project Mausam’ the Government of India has proposed to establish cross cultural linkages and to revive historic maritime cultural and economic ties with 39 Indian Ocean countries. In 2015, Government of India linked China Silk Road project with Project Mausam.
Today these routes or ‘heritage corridors’ as they have been identified by (UNESCO), have the potential to offer economic benefits to local communities and cross cultural exchange through tourism development
Silk Road sites in India are sites that were important for trade on the ancient Silk Road. There are 12 such places in India. These are spread across seven states in India (Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Puducherry, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. These sites are on tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Lately the UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme represents a new approach based on dialogue and stakeholder cooperation where planning for tourism and heritage management is integrated at a destination level, the natural and cultural assets are valued and protected, and appropriate tourism developed.
For a comprehensive heritage, cultural and tourism development of a region resulting in economic growth and development, an all inclusive approach has to be followed. Where both public and private sector initiatives along with the pioneering work by NGOs academicians with the skillsmanship and knowledge of the locals at the site .
Unfortunately, in a state like Jammu and Kashmir with all the requisite cultural vividity, heritage sites, internationally acclaimed theatre, music and cuisine available, we are unable to tap the true potential of the region for tourism generation. With Kashmir getting maximum weightage in tourism marketing, promotion and development, equally important regions of Jammu Leh and Ladhak completely go ignored. Political upheaval is one thing but a lack of proper siting, documentation, preservation of the long lost sites and heritage is the need of the hour. Preservation projects need to be recommended to the GOI or UNESCO for their timely preservation and development.
With a listing of two sites namely Mughal gardens and ancient monastery and stupa together with adjacent land (Harwan) Kashmir valley as UNESCO world heritage sites tentative list submitted by the Govt. of India ,other regions of the state should also take up an extensive and holistic approach towards the development of heritage and cultural tourism as the means of economic development.
When managed responsibly, tourism can be a driver for preservation and conservation of cultural and natural heritage and a vehicle for sustainable development.
We are a land of rich heritage and culture and I find no reason why a land globally accepted as having immense cultural and heritage tourism potential should not harness it to the fullest.
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