Indian tourism can thrive with corporate support

As a journalist, I have travelled all over the world, within India, as well. India has virtually everything that a foreign tourist can ask for: Historical monuments of all kinds, the Taj Mahal, arguably the most beautiful edifice in the world, being at the top; and spectacular scenery, from the snows of the Himalayas, right down to the beaches and waterways of Goa and Kerala. There is also an abundance of wildlife: Lions (the only ones in Asia), tigers, elephants, rhinos, and thousands of species of birds.

Yet, this nation of some 1.3 billion people only gets less than 10 million foreign visitors, half of whom are classified as Non Resident Indians (NRIs), in other words, Indians living abroad, returning to India, mainly for a holiday or to see their relatives. Which means India gets just five million genuine foreign tourists every year. To me, those are pathetic and distressing statistics. A tiny nation like Singapore, with a population of a little over five million, gets more visitors than India does! China gets three times as many as India, even though there is nothing much to see there, except for the Great Wall and the Beijing Summer Palace, Mao’s Cultural Revolution having destroyed many of the country’s old and historical monuments.

But France beats them all. With a population of 66 million, it gets close to 90 million tourists a year, far more than its entire population. In fact, at peak tourist season, in July, when many French men and women are holidaying abroad, France is overwhelmingly peopled by foreigners. If you walk down the Champs D’Elysee, the most popular thoroughfare in Paris, you will barely hear any French being spoken. Not surprisingly, tourism is one of France’s major exchange earners and employment-provider.

Returning to India, I blame only one agency for the miserable tourism performance — the government, and in particular, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is meant to help preserve the country’s historic monuments. It does a terrible job. Go to any well-known place frequented by tourists, like the Ajanta and Ellora Caves, or even the Taj Mahal and you will find the toilets dirty, the guides illinformed,

Mitra is the Hindi word for friend, and the idea is to identify private companies that would like to adopt a particular historical site

and the facilities sub-standard. Shady touts, ready to fleece unwary foreigners, proliferate.

There is an obvious way to improve the Indian tourism situation: Bring in the private sector. In fact, this is precisely what the present Indian government is trying to do in a small way. It has launched a “Monument Mitra” project and initially targeted the magnificent Red Fort in Delhi, which was constructed by that master-builder, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, who also built the Taj Mahal and the Jama Masjid, widely considered to be the most perfect mosque in the world. Mitra is the Hindi word for friend, and the idea is clearly to identify private companies that would like to adopt a particular historical site and improve its infrastructure and facilities.

If the ASI has been unable to do this in all these years, nothing wrong with letting reputed Indian business houses to do the job, under the overall supervision of the ASI, of course. That is what anybody sensible would think. But there has been such an outcry from certain quarters against the entire concept of “Monument Mitra” that the Indian authorities are reevaluating the idea. I don’t believe they should. The private company that has offered the partnership with the Red Fort is a reputed one, the Dalmia Bharat group. The monument is located in Old Delhi. The Prime Minister makes his Independence Day speech every August 15 from its ramparts. Under the British, part of the fort was used — or, rather, misused — as an army barrack. The main hall is where the Mughal Emperor held court, sitting on the fabled jewel-encrusted Peacock Throne, wearing a crown that was adorned by the Kohinoor, one of the most famous diamonds in the world (it is now on the crown of the Queen of Britain, and how it got there is another story).

I am sure the Dalmia Bharat Group plans to use the area for events, apart from sprucing it up and making it more friendly for tourists. I am also sure that in return for the investment it makes on the Red Fort, it will use the place, for publicising itself and the products that it manufactures. I find nothing objectionable about that, provided it is done with taste and discretion. There are two outstanding examples of private forays into historical areas. The wonderful restoration of both Humayun’s Tomb in Delhi by the Aga Khan Foundation and the Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai by the Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation. Doubters should take a look at these two places and their doubts will wither away.

Rahul Singh is former Editor of Khaleej Times