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LIGHT MOMENT: Rajasthan tourism minister Usha Punia lights the ceremonial lamp as IATO president Subhash Goyal and Madhya Pradesh tourism minister Yashodhara Raje look on
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ROOM FOR SERVICE
What do tour operators do when there aren’t enough hotels to house tourists or if the existing hotels act pricey? When lobbying didn’t work, the Indian Association of Tour Operators decided to build as many as 50 hotels across the country, a decision that could create thousands of jobs.
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If Infosys can build its own hotel on its Bangalore campus to cater to the needs of the software powerhouse’s executives and visitors, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) thought it could do one better. Or rather 50. In a landmark decision, IATO, the largest body of tour operators in India, has decided to build 50 hotels across the country to meet the shortage of hotel rooms which is proving a stumbling block in boosting foreign arrivals.
At its annual convention at Jaipur, IATO president Subhash Goyal announced: “A cooperative or a company would be floated by IATO for this purpose with its members as shareholders. We are going to create millions of jobs and eradicate poverty from India as these hotels will revolutionise the tourism sector.”
It’s clearly not a vain announcement. The Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments have already promised to identify suitable land they will offer cheap in order to promote public-private partnership in the tourism industry.
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SPEAKING VOLUMES: Punia and Rajasthan governor Pratibha Patil release a book in the presence of Goyal |
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MERA BHARAT MAHAN: The guests stand to attention as the national anthem is played |
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With India emerging as the fourth preferred destination of foreign tourists after Italy, New Zealand and Australia, the Indian tourism industry is on the verge of taking off. The tour operators, however, say they have been suffering due to shrinking commission being given to them by the hotel and aviation sectors, lack of hotel rooms and inability of hotels to honour their commitments leading to cancellations.
Increasing interest among foreign tourists to explore India has led to a significant surge in the overall numbers of inbound tourists to the tune of 29.2 per cent over the past two years. The serial blasts in western metropolis Mumbai and looming terrorist threats notwithstanding, India managed to attract 630,438 foreign tourists in July and August this year as compared with 563,124 during the same period last year.
Rajasthan governor Pratibha Patil said the success story of Rajasthan tourism should be adopted by other states. She also emphasised on developing medical tourism in the country. “We have some of the best heart surgeons in the world and a heart surgery here costs much less,” she added.
Others who spoke at the inaugural session included Rajasthan tourism minister Usha
Punia, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Yashodhara Raje, Union tourism secretary
A.K. Misra, Rajasthan tourism secretary Vindo Zutshi and Rajasthan commissioner tourism,
A.K. Singh. In her keynote address, Raje described her state as “the very heart of India”, Raje extended a warm welcome to the delegates to come and see it for
themself.
The chairman of the convention, Pranob Sarkar, said as many as 1,546 delegates attended the convention. “This is the largest number of delegates attending a convention in IATO’s history,” he said to loud applause.
—Empire Bureau
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October 2006
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