Emergence of India Incredible

Whether it was the issue of Ram Setu or the turnaround of the state-run ITDC, Union Minister for Tourism & Culture Ambika Soni has proved her mettle and has left her opponents speechless. She speaks about her vision for the promotion of tourism and hospitality. By Praveen K Singh

Ambika Soni Union Minister for Tourism & Culture

Ambika Soni feels that to create a true success story in tourism, the public must be involved. Taking this as cue, she mentions public-private partnership. She has written letters to state chief ministers to create land banks for hotels. "As the availability of land is the biggest deterrent in development of hotels, I have written to all state chief ministers for creating land banks in their regions to meet the country's room shortage," she says.

Last year, the Ministry of Tourism had sanctioned Rs 984.81 crore towards tourism infrastructure development projects for 570 tourism projects in all states. Talking about developing qualitative manpower, Soni says, "We are in the process of finalising the new education programmes as we have proposed more IHMs across the country. Short-term courses are also being designed."

Broaching the issue of guides in the country, Soni says that there is the need to increase their numbers and their quality. She wants hoteliers to provide assistance in training these guides. "Hotels should popularise the idea of student guides thereby encouraging 'earn-while-you-learn' model and generate a well-trained cadre of guides," she asserts.

Minister believes

Talking about the vast cultural heritage of the country and how to capitalise on that, Soni says, "We have a variety of possessions, rich heritage and culture, which act as attractions for tourists from all over the world. We just need to instill a culture where we need to be disciplined in terms of maintenance of our properties and cleanliness of tourist centres in the country. Only then can we attract more tourists to our country."

The ministry is in the process of spotting various heritage buildings for restoration and promoting them as attractions. The Archaeological Survey of India will carry out the restoration work in co-operation with some non-government organisations. "I would like to compliment hotelier Priya Paul of Apeejay Group for handling the preservation of Jantar Mantar. This is an example for other corporate houses to follow," Soni adds. With her plans and future programmes, it shows how the government is actively involved towards the promotion of the sector to generate benefits for the industry operators.