By Azera Rahman, IANS
New Delhi : An Indian festival on the streets of London, rural, medical and wildlife tourism, and now helicopter travel to remote areas… Tourism Minister Ambika Soni is simply brimming with ideas to make India more visible on the world map.
“We have drawn up a proposal to introduce helicopter tourism in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and the northeast in the next five year plan. There are so many places, for instance, in Arunachal Pradesh, which can’t be accessed by road and hence have not been seen,” Soni told IANS in an interview.
“But by introducing small, say 20-seater helicopters, one can travel to all those unseen places and enjoy their beauty. It will be a big boost to tourism in these places.”
Rural tourism is another field that Soni is focussing on.
“We are highlighting rural tourism in a big way. For a tourist, visiting a village or a rural area is an experience of pure atmosphere, sans noise, pollution or the maddening hassles of the city. These places are also new to the tourist.”
On the other hand, local artisans greatly benefit from rural tourism since their art gets good exposure and they get to sell their crafts as well.
“The best thing or effect of rural tourism is that the artisans get to stay where they are, in their native homes, and earn a decent living. We are helping them in capacity building by introducing their art in the international market,” she added.
Soni said the ministry has identified four destinations where mega-shopping events will highlight the work of Indian artisans.
“We have identified four places, with good infrastructure, where mega shopping events will take place. They are Noida, Hyderabad, Aurangabad and Bhubaneswar. In the choice of places, we kept in mind that they must already have a steady inflow of tourists so that this initiative further boosts tourism,” Soni said.
She also added that although these four have been identified as the thrust areas, similar events would gradually be organised in every state.
“In the mega events, which will be annual affairs, international buyers will be exposed to exquisite Indian products,” Soni said.
Soni also spoke about the Regent Festival in London that will take place from Sep 2, saying it would give Britain a taste of India.
During the fest, one of London’s premier shopping streets, Regent Street, will be converted into an Indian streetscape complete with music, spectacular sculptures, food and artisans.
The festival is a part of a three-month ‘India Now’ campaign in London that started in July.
“The campaign will see weavers from Assam weave Muga silk saris, artisans make baskets out of cane and Indian musicians create magic through their instruments, besides others. There will also be a fashion show as well as events showcasing Indian art, cinema and theatre,” Soni said.
To make travelling to India easier without the usual visa hassles, five-year visas with multiple entries have been introduced. This is valid for 18 countries.
“Medical tourism, I am happy to say, has already taken off in India. Twenty-five state of the art hospitals across the country have been identified where specialised treatment, be it plastic surgery, dentistry or joint replacement, are carried out,” she said.
“Whether it’s the ‘India at 60’ celebrations in New York, the PATA conference after that in Bali or the scheduled PATA conference in Hyderabad in 2008, at the risk of sounding pompous, I must say that the tourism sector is definitely on an all time high!” said a smiling Soni.
(Azera Rahman can be contacted at [email protected])