Athithi devo bhava, says tourism minister

Renuka Choudhury, minister for tourism, has redefined the tourist customer as the king of kings, god himself!

Athithi devo bhava (ADB), which means, 'The guest is God' is Indian tourism's version of the customer satisfaction slogan, 'customer is king', once preached by Peter Drucker. Minister of state for tourism, Renuka Chaudhury, has redefined foreign guests to divine status.

Foreign tourists visiting 'Incredible India', if the hon'ble minister has her way, can expect to be treated like god and not gullible victims meant to be fleeced by whoever can make a quick buck out of them. This is what the tourism ministry's ambitious initiative titled ADB, culled from Sanskrit venerating guests as God, plans to achieve.

Renuka Choudhury, who launched a public awareness campaign recently, predicts a multiple increase in tourist inflow into the country from this changed perception.

If all goes well, the common calling who angrez hai (that's a foreigner) might just disappear from the argot of the fringe of the tourism sector. Cheats and touts who are known to fleece foreign tourists, like the smooth-talking taxi driver, the guide fabricating stories and episodes as Indian history and their other enterprising cousins will soon become history.

An incident at New Delhi's Janpath where an enterprising fruit vendor attempted to hood wink an unwary tourist into buying half a dozen 'bananas from Banaras' for Rs200 sums up the widespread attitude towards tourists. The Hindu's weekly supplement, Metro, exposed a racket some time back of tourists being herded into dingy motels around New Delhi's Pahad Ganj railway station, since 'riots had broken out in the city and this was a safe spot, which would not be targeted.

ADB is a multi-faceted exercise that will involve 'sensitisation, screening, induction, training and orientation of key players' in the tourism industry. It will be implemented in a phased manner over three years. The first phase will cover Delhi, the city legendary for its tricksters and con artists, followed by Mumbai, and then smaller heritage destinations like Jaipur, Goa and Aurangabad.

Virtually every tourist, even Indian, on arrival in Delhi has been accosted by unscrupulous cab and auto drivers or glib tour operators. The ADB exercise, ending by April 1 next year, aims to instil finer points of etiquette among Delhi's 26,000 taxi drivers.

The ADB certification will be given to taxis, hotels and shops for achieving standards and excellence. This certification will be valid for six months and will be renewed only after a fresh appraisal and re-orientation of the service provider.

"The ADB logo will be a status symbol. It will stand for quality and reliability. If a foreign tourist spots ADB logo on a taxi or restaurant, he can be sure that he is in the right place," said Choudhury.

Providing a macro picture of tourism's role in India's development, she said, "Tourism is an engine of development and change." India received 3.4 million foreign visitors in 2004, up 23.5 per cent year-on-year and revenue rose 36.1 per cent to $4.8 billion. Arrivals in 2005 are expected to surge by up to 30 per cent. The tourism sector is the third largest foreign exchange earner and needs more attention, she added.

Choudhury says tourism is "one of the biggest employers; it employs more people than IT and agriculture." The perception of what tourism means to a country has to undergo a sea change if India has to move from its current status of 3.3 million foreign tourists arrivals in 2004 to the top10 tourist destinations in the world."

"People have to be sensitive and aware of the role of tourism; otherwise we will kill the goose that lays the golden egg. When tourism happens, prosperity increases," the upbeat minister said.

In her valedictory address in a three-day 'tourism conclave' organised jointly by Himachal Tourism and the Confederation of Indian Industry on December12, 2004, the minister mentioned the introduction of concepts of "visa on arrival" and "inner line border permits" to boost the growth of tourist arrivals in the country. These can double the effect of ADB if exercised as goodly as she mentions.

Chowdhury stressed the need for a public-private participation in the development of tourism. She urged that the need of the hour was to come out of the "McDonald Burger Syndrome" and tourism needed to be taken to the villages and made more broad-based to capture the richness of local identities and local culture, she said.

Similarly, Indian airports - particularly the main international ones in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai - have to be treated as part of India's overall business and tourist infrastructure, and given the appropriate levels of investment. The government quite happily provides tax breaks and incentives for companies to import equipment that results in foreign exchange earnings.

Visitors, particularly foreigners, want to do business with the minimum fuss. If they have a problem finding a trolley at the airport on arrival, the toilets dirty and get accosted for a tip by a shady looking staff, it straightaway increases the visitor's inclination to regard the entire country as a third world hellhole.

The minister will have earned the kudos of tourists and the legitimate tourist trade sector if she succeeds in bringing about an attitudinal change among those whose behaviour influences the visitors opinion.

The government should also provide special attention to areas like medical tourism, ayurvedic and spa tours in India, which have more potential of attracting tourists than we know. Also, sports and adventure tourism with mountaineering, camel rides, scuba diving, jeep safaris, mountain biking, rafting, skiing… and a whole lot of other activities that mark India as incredible as it could ever.