A connected question with the main poser is: Why cannot we have a well planned "package Tourism" like some of the smaller Asian countries have done with great success and profit during less than a decade? And do you think that Tourism Minister Jagmohan is on the right track when he argues that domestic tourism, which stands at a figure of 180 million tourists per annum, should actually form the basis of the new tourism culture? We would also like you to comment on the successes and failures of the varied and many organisations of different segments of the tourism industry like the Indian Association of Tourism Operators, the Travel Agents Association of India, the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India and several other associations representing travel guides, rail travel agents and governmental corporations and departments. Have they made any serious contribution to the growth of tourism in India or just made a mess of it because they cannot see eye to eye with rivals and government policies? The DayAfter Think Tank feels that Tourism Minister Jagmohan has shown clarity and courage to go right up to the Prime Minister and seek his approval for the revival of the Leave Travel Concession facility for government employees and public sector employees, to form a steady base for domestic tourism and his efforts to bring about the necessary legal framework and structure for cooperation between the Centre, the states and the tourism industry, by bringing Tourism on the Concurrent List. That would make the industry, the States and the Centre collaborators and cooperators in tourism rather than rivals and infractous competitors.

A snap survey by The DayAfter Think Tank has also revealed that the following are the main causes of the failure of the most potential string of destinations in the world, the Indian destinations compared with smaller and newer tourists hubs in Asia:

1. The Government treating tourism as a low priority and low initiative department.

2. The concerned departments vital for the growth of tourism being parcellised into different ministries and departments of the Central and the State governments and often working at cross purposes.

3. The hospitality and connected industries, including tourist shopping, have been turned into elitist industries, totally ignoring the medium budget and low income tourists, both domestic and foreign.

4. An intrinsic element of undesirable infiltrators in the tourism industry, including people belonging to departments like immigration and Customs, who fleece and harass the tourists.

5. The total absence of a national tourism culture, necessary to develop healthy and profitable tourism, as has been shown by other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

You can add your own reasons and suggestions to this Tourism debate.

Ofcourse the cross-border terrorism and the continuous proxy war unleashed by Pakistan has also been damaging Indian tourism. It had obviously ruined the prospects of kashmir, once the most desirable tourist destination in the world, and other parts of the subcontinent by turning it into a sub-continent of risk and danger. There should be greater involvement of the NGOs, the media, the cultural and the heritage sectors and of course it should be debureaucratised and liberated from the tentacles of bureaucrats and sectorial monopolists. We have just set the ball rolling. Come, join us and make your own comments and suggestions.