Manisha Saxena, who recently took over as Director General, Tourism, exudes positive outlook for hospitality biz in India & reckons G20 Presidency provides great opportunity to it to unlock its potential.
Nisha Verma
Manisha Saxena, Director General, Tourism, MoT, Govt. of India is not new to the sector, having served as the Principal Secretary, Tourism, Government of Mizoram, before moving to the central ministry in March. Sharing her views on the sector, she said, “I think there is an overall focus on tourism and the Hon’ble Prime Minister has been constantly underlining the need to develop India as a tourism hub, so that it can lead to better livelihoods and better jobs in this sector. The idea is to tell all those stories in a way that entices foreign tourists and encourage domestic tourists to see the country. Even one lifetime is not enough to see all of India. I think the sooner one starts, the better it is. I have been posted in Delhi, Goa and even Northeast. Thus, I feel that it is a country of such diversity that people living in one region cannot even imagine what the other region would be like. Hence, it will be good if everybody can travel a lot and learn about the diversity in the country. My endeavour in this ministry would be to facilitate that process and become a part of it in whatever way possible.”
G20 Presidency
Talking about India’s G20 Presidency, she shared, “It is a big opportunity to leverage tourism as one of the foremost economic activities and let the world see what we have to offer. Accordingly, the strategy for G20 events has been planned in such a way that we are going to 56 cities with so many events happening. Every ministry is doing an event in a new destination. Hence, I think it will be a huge showcase for the international community with the kind of efforts that are being taken. As part of G20 events, many cities are improving their infrastructure. It is not just one event. A lot of effort is being put into making that destination more beautiful, pre-sustainable, more attractive for all kinds of tourists.”
Key focus
In her new role, informed Saxena, “My focus would be to facilitate the tourism sector in as many ways as possible, as part of MoT’s overall policy. I just want to be a part of the team which delivers tourism as one of the foremost economic activities in India.”
Technology integration
Talking about the power of technology in today’s travel industry, she commented, “In earlier days, when you planned a trip, you consulted a travel agent or you spoke to someone who has been on that side of the world. Now everybody just picks up their phone or laptop and browse. Hence, a digital presentation of your strengths is very important as a destination and a lot of states have done some good work on it. Almost everyone has a website and a tourism app. However, challenge of digitalization is how to combine all of it with the places where all the action is. I think, we are working keenly on it, and we will be able to bridge that gap. We are leveraging the strength of social media and using digital media, AR, VR, evidence-based studies from the visitors from various countries. All that is in process. It will throw up some very good insights and we will be able to work on those.”
