CII Tourism Fest calls for unified action from all stakeholders
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The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organised the Tourism Fest 2013 in Chandigarh from 5-7 December.
With participation from 13 states and eight other countries, events included a chef festival and dance festival being other attractions. The take-home was the call for unified and one-voice action by all stakeholders and the need to have joint promotions by the northern states in other parts of the country and abroad.
The Governor of Punjab, Shivraj Patil asked the industry to do more as tourism was mainly in private hands, and government largely played the role of a catalyst. ”The concept of competition should be developed amongst the players. He noted that often it was not easy to implement what was being claimed by the governments, on issues like visas and other items.” Patil said.
Adding further he said, not much has been done for the domestic tourism, many of whom are pilgrims and do not demand anything. Culture and temples need to be explored more so that the travellers learn and enjoy them.
Opinions raised at the CII fest as below:
Arjun Sharma, managing director of Le Passage To India (LPTI) and Chairman of the CII Tourism Fest, expressed concern on safety, hygiene and skill development issues but noted with satisfaction that the stakeholders were keen to work together.
Nakul Anand, executive director of ITC Hotels, said ‘We need to go from impossible India to incredible India’ ‘The challenge is to see tourism as an economic activity, rather than an elitist activity. Advertising money should be spent only in selected areas, and the funds so released be used to develop a smart visa regime. Indian missions abroad should help boost arrivals and the Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism must cooperate.”
KK Sharma, advisor to the UT Administrator, said that it needs to be identified what is to be done by different stakeholders. Chandigarh would soon have a convention centre and a Nehru Centre for Performing Arts.
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