Documentation Update-June 2002 - Equitable Tourism Options

I..Our noteDear Reader,This issue of the DocUpdate reaches you after a period of nearly two years. We wouldlike to apologise for this prolonged delay in bringing this issue to you. There are anumber of factors that have contributed to this, the most important of them being aseries of internal changes. This year we bring to you a combined publication oftourism issues for the year 2001. The edition covers materials from Newspapers,Newsletters and Magazines. The information included is indicative of tracing thetourism development and other broader issues, with a greater focus on India. Theissues that have been presented are based according to the sections and sub-section ofour classification code.During the last year, the development of tourism in India has seen a sea of changes.These range from the preparation of the draft policies by the Tourism as well as theCivil Aviation Ministries, disinvestment of hotels and airlines, liberalising the FDIceiling in airports and tourism to 100%, recognition of tourism as a importantindustry in states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttaranchal, the change inevents after the terrorist attacks and ways and means by which the industry tried tocounter the impact, ... It truly has been an year of ups and downs for tourism.tIThe mantle of the Minister for Tourism has again changed. This time round it gotshifted from Mr Ananth Kumar to Mr Jagmohan. One key area where he has beenputting his efforts into is with the tourism policy. The policy is being structured andgiven form in terms of creation ofa separate tourism development fund, setting up ofa tourism development authority, visa-on-arrivals, effective marketing and zoning.A new feature of this policy is that of placing tourism in the concurrent list of theconstitution and giving more emphasis on people participation. The Governmentalso invited tenders for formulating a 20-year perspective plan for development of'Sustainable Tourism' in all States and Union Territories of India.The Government has increased the budgetary allocation for tourism from Rs 135-crto Rs 155-cr for the year 01-02. The government is looking for more privateparticipation rather than investing themselves. The Tourism Department plans tocreate a Tourism Development Fund on similar line as that of the National CultureFund created by the ASI. The ASI has got a good response from the Geneva-basedAga Khan Trust for Culture and the Indian Oil Foundation. States have as wellstarted the privatisation and private participation drive by calling on tenders to selloff its properties and manage heritage monuments in the state.In the International Scenario, India has been collaborating with its neighboursNepal to work on developing the adventure and religious circuit and withBangladesh on liberalising the visa agreement between the two countries. Outboundtourism in India has grown much more substantially while compared to inboundtourism. This might also be the reason why a number of countries have increasedthere promotional and marketing activities in India. A study conducted by WITCand Oxford Economic Forecasting reveals that the Indian traveller is consumingleisure and business products & services to the tune of $16.3 billion. This makesIndians the fastest growing travel spenders in the whole world. This can also beindicative of the fact that for the first time the balance of India' s tourism account may