Destination Exotic India

The Modi government is promoting India to foreign tourists via yoga, Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD, writes MG BANGA. Putting the North-east on the map is part of the plan.

- MG BANGA.

On World Tourism Day (27 September), there will be messages, pledges and promises, with fascinating statistics of increased flow of foreign tourists, employment generated and various plans and schemes announced by the government.

Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took over the reins of the country, he has been tirelessly trying to build the image of the country globally. He opened his innings with a masterstroke when President of the United States Barack Obama came as chief guest on Republic Day. During his own globetrotting, the kind of confidence the Prime Minister exuded during meetings with world leaders obliterated forever the image of India as a third world country. A strong foundation has been built for the tourism fraternity to leverage and to attract global tourist traffic.

India certainly can’t match other countries in leisure tourism and high-end amusement parks or fun parks. Our strength lies in ancient culture, philosophy, rural folklore, yoga and other spiritual heritage. Even our science of astrology and horoscope reading could be fascinating subjects around which tourism could be developed.

Two new schemes — Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD — launched by the government reflect this thinking to a large extent. The broad objectives of the Swadesh Darshan scheme are to develop circuits having tourist potential in planned and integrated development-based circuits, promote cultural and heritage value of the country, enhance tourist attractiveness by developing world-class infrastructure in the circuit destination, follow community-based development and pro-poor tourism approach, promote local arts, cultural, handicrafts, cuisine etc.