As I write this, the Confederation of Indian Industry is in the throes of a seminar or convention on tourism! In India, despite the range of beauty and history this country has to offer, we remain at the bottom of the destination ladder with a third rate infrastructure, having to deal with a species of humans with an even worse mindset. Everything we do, from the moment an airplane lands, is to harass the visitor. The loutish looking immigration officer picking his nose rather than stamping the passport, is the first vision of this fine land.
In this context I would like to say that where there is a will, changes can turn a destination into one that competes internationally. Kerala was put on the map of the world by the dynamism of Amitabh Kanth who was backed by the government of the state. It becomes a heavenly holiday because the bureaucrat is not hanging there, frustrated, and determined to be unpleasant, unthinking and cussed.
In the sister state of Rajasthan, another potential ?paradise?, the mindset of the politician and the bureaucrat is so archaic and, therefore, destructive that all business is steadily moving away. International investment, the best in the world, is treated with contempt, thrown around, made to run from pillar to post. One wonders why? Is this a way to extort? If so, why in this day and age would the best in the world want to enter a state that is corrupt and stuck in a time warp? It is a waste of time and money. The rhetoric and the reality are contradictory. The chief minister talks of wanting change and investment but the bureaucrats have mean and tortuous requirements that will drive away any intelligent, thinking person wanting to do legitimate business.
So, what are these jamborees all about? They seem to make no impact whatsoever on policy change. Stern directives are not given by the bosses. Loopholes are deliberately left for the exercise of ?money making?. In Rajasthan, for one, it takes forever to get a legitimate bar licence, legitimately! They accept the deposit but wait indefinitely to release the licence. One wonders what they are waiting for! Rajasthan is killing itself off. Maybe that is the mandate of its leadership, or so the attitude of its leaders suggests. The revenue that this state could generate from tourism is potentially so large that it is criminal to see them fritter it away. If they carry on in this manner they will probably lose the mandate of the people as well. At a time like this, with travel on hold because of the situation worldwide, India should be bending over backwards for investments and visitors. But we make life impossible…
All across the world governments make certain that the visitor has a great experience. Innocuous destinations have managed to create fantasies around themselves, have sold themselves and have offered many a treat. Innovative ideas have been supported by governments and the path cleared of hurdles and hassles. It is the opposite in India. We are skilled at putting boulders in the way. You just have to compare the figures of tourist traffic to Borobudur as one single destination and the whole of India, to know how abysmal the scene in our country remains.
Our policy makers get vicarious pleasure by imposing ridiculous excise duties and suchlike which makes India an unpleasant place to visit in comparison to everything in south-east Asia. We have lost out and our leadership, staid, old, dull and boring seem adamant about destroying the enormous strength of India. Their rules and regulations throttle. Their corruption stifles. Their complete lack of imagination kills. Where they could enforce a new parameter and take the world on, they wallow in the garbage of a command economy and sink deeper into the quagmire that has enveloped them.
Tourism should be the top economic priority. International expertise in tourism norms should be wooed actively. Project clearances should happen in 48 hours. Excise and other duties should be dramatically lowered to compete with the world. If these basics cannot happen, tourism should be thrown out of the window. Hypocrisy must be discarded.