Indian hospitality industry will further gain momentum if all spheres & departments are aligned & government is working towards it, assures Rakesh Verma while moderating post-Budget webinar.
Nisha Verma
Tourism cannot move forward without convergence because it is a cross-sectoral thing, as it has many more domains and support of many other departments is necessary, said Rakesh Verma, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India. He moderated the second breakout session—Convergence – The Power of Collaboration of the post-Budget webinar on Developing Tourism in Mission Mode, organized by Union Ministry of Tourism recently.
Speaking about the session on convergence in the tourism sector, Verma shared, “In this session, all departments of Central Ministries, whose initiatives impact the tourism sector were present. Apart from that, at state government level, we had inputs from Principal Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. We also invited two district collectors to see at the implementation stage how this convergence and synergy is there. Apart from that, to represent the industry, office-bearers of our industry associations and leaders were there. It was visible that tourism cannot move forward without convergence because it is a cross-sectoral thing, as it has many more domains and support of many other departments is necessary. If this support is taken properly, then a multiplier effect can be created and the challenges in the tourism sector can be removed well.”
Verma highlighted a few suggestions given during the session. “There is a group that has been made, called the Project Monitoring Group, which monitors important infra projects and same way since tourism is complex and needs support from different departments. Thus, a portal should be developed where project related information and from which agency they need clearance and we should align it with the PM Gatishakti Portal,” he said.
Destination masterplan
Verma also shared that a masterplan for destinations should be created, “whereby doing SWOT analysis, we should know in advance, which are the areas where support is needed and then the programmes of that ministry and department should be plugged into it. Then the convergence and synergy will come out in a much better way.”
He added, “Same way infrastructure gap is there, which has been mapped via masterplan or otherwise, so that the involved ministries are updated that these are our priority destinations and where is the missing link, like in road, railway or airport. Thus, if infrastructure mapping is done, convergence can be done in a better way.”
Quality of services
He informed that the Bureau of Indian Standards and Ministry of Commerce is working on National Standard of Quality of Services. “They have also suggested that if we take the standards forward in a good way, the ministries can also contribute very well in the same by getting those standards in different segments such as skills, marketing and promotion. For everything we should have standards and practices.” In the same way, said Verma, “Funding, convergence, programme objectives were highlighted. At many places, the funds of schemes can be dovetailed, if we can pool funds at district level and achieve a common objective.”
Environment & wildlife
He also said that environment and wildlife is a sensitive segment. “On this, Ministry of Environment and Forests have a lot of plans to develop wetlands, ecotourism and the vision is to develop them for high-end tourists. In that there is involvement of many departments—not just infrastructure, but even departments related with skills and livelihoods. In this way, they are taking all the ministries who want to do development in wetlands and ecotourism,” he shared. Another suggestion, Verma said, was of joint participation in events. “It was mentioned that there can be a taskforce at the state level to fast-track the issues. Another suggestion was to sensitise every department about the importance and value of tourism and the peculiar issues that tourism has. There is a need to create awareness on all this, and based on that we should design a programme where all stakeholders can be sensitised because this convergence is very important aspect, but achieving it is not easy. The suggestion was for continuous education and sensitisation.”
Destination management
He said that the objective was that if we can document with clarity what the destinations need, and which ministry can offer what, everyone will have their role clear. “Communities are very important for the projects and plans that we make. Every ministry needs to keep community event,” he said.
Capacity development
Another issue that was highlighted was capacity development for guides. “In Arth Ganga, they have used the ashrams at Ganga to develop spiritual tourism. In Arth Ganga, there are many components that are tourism relevant. They are making intangible and tangible heritage directories. Hence, MoT can use it and make good tourism products and experiences around it. We can use their support to promote the same,” suggested Verma.
Industry view
“From industry, it was suggested that we need to have convergence from the regulatory side as well, whether it is from our hotels, restaurants and other tourism related businesses. What are the touchpoints of those businesses, will also have to be raised with different departments and different regulatory authorities. We need to give them ease of doing business and how the compliance burden can be reduced. Compliances should be there, but the process should be efficient, so that businesses do not have any problem,” he said.
