The declaration had aroused hopes that, at last, tourism will get its due place in national planning and India will start reaping the benefits of this industry which has proved to be a major engine of economic growth in several countries of Europe and Asia. These hopes, however, are nowhere close to being realised. On the other hand, the industry has experienced a major slowdown following the September 11 events and the tension between India and Pakistan which has pushed it into a major downslide.

According to official estimates, tourist arrivals as a result of this twin crisis experienced a slide of around 15 per cent while trade estimates state the fall is much steeper as the hotels at major centres are showing a decline in occupancy ranging between 20 to 30 per cent. Some of the downtrend has been corrected by a greater inflow of domestic tourists, particularly at centres like Goa and the heritage hotels, but the decline is enough to create serious problems for the industry. The worst part is that leave aside giving a new boost to the industry, the Government has been found totally wanting in dealing with the crisis.

For instance, countries like China and South Asia immediately implemented a crisis programme after September 11 and shifted their emphasis to attracting tourists from their immediate neighbourhood instead of wooing visitors from traditional areas like Europe and America. These countries also offered special packages which proved to be a great hit. Countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia and China were able to turn the crisis into an opportunity while India continued to advertise in markets like the United States of America and Europe with little impact. Also, it could not offer any attractive packages.

The result was that the Indian share of the tourist market continued to slide while our neighbours were able to thrive even in adverse market conditions. There is no point in pinning the blame on any single sector of the Government but the fact remains that India is yet to get its act together as far as the tourism sector is concerned. Despite the encouragement from the Prime Minister and the presence of a dynamic person like Jagmohan as Tourism Minister there has been no change in the tourism scenario in India which, instead of growing, is declining except for the domestic sector and outbound travel.

The biggest handicap suffered by us is that an important constituent for attracting tourism, that is, easy air connectivity is not available as the Ministry of Aviation continues to work as Ministry in charge of airlines in the public sector instead of as the Ministry which is expected to provide air transport at reasonable rates to the public. The conflict between the two goals has led to the creation of a situation of scarcity and high fares (private airlines have recognised this and are offering large discounts). It has also created a situation in which nearly half the bilateral rights available to India are not being used because State carriers do not have enough capacity and private carriers are not allowed to fly abroad.

The result is that Indian tourism has become a victim of low capacity with air seats just not being available during the peak season. India being a long haul destination, this has become a major disincentive. There are also major problems in building other infrastructure resulting in poor quality of roads and non-availability of important inputs like water and electricity. India is probably the only country where, while building a hotel, the owners also have to provide for a stand-by generating set for power and a tubewell for water. This, along with the high cost of land, makes it impossible to build budget hotels which are essential if India is to increase the volume of business.

The third factor working against us is our poor marketing strategy. Despite repeated attempts, the Government has refused to loosen its stranglehold on promotion of the industry. It has refused to involve private trade in supervising publicity or professionalising services by creating a permanent cadre. It continues to rely on officers belonging to the Indian Administrative Service who act as birds of passage with no commitment. It has been argued that India can cater for budget tourists only if it works on joint ventures between industry and the Government which can provide land and other infrastructure facilities as part of its contribution to equity while the promoter provides the other inputs. This will lead to spreading the costs over a period of time and the Government could also be a gainer in the long run.