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TOURISM IN
GUJARAT: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
BY
SAYANTIKA NAG
ASS. LECTURER
R.N PATEL IPCOWALA SCHOOL OF LAW AND JUSTICE
VIDHYANAGAR
ABSTRACT
Tourism
is one of the fastest growing sectors in India, which is helpful in growth and development
process of economy. Nowadays tourism sector is rapidly replacing the
traditional sector and it is one of the fastest growing economic sectors over
the past 15 years. Recently Gujarat is focusing on the sustainable development
of tourism by introducing various methodologies aspiring to increases tourism
by providing them various facilities and exciting destination by implementing
various promotional and marketing strategies. The main aim of sustainable
development is to develop the responsibility among local residents and tourist
about the environment. Tourism is also helpful for the local people in display
of their handicraft and cultural activities. The main purpose of this paper is
to examine the tourism policy in Gujarat after 1991, the reason for sustainable
development in tourism and recent measures taken by the Government of Gujarat.
INTRODUCTION
Tourism is one of the distinguished factors for the
any country for their economy which play an important role in the GDP
growth. Tourism not only provides
foreign earning but it is beneficial in terms of cultural exchange and provides
employment opportunities to the concerned places.
Tourism facilitates hospitality growth, employment,
infrastructure development, and cultural exchange. It is one of the essential
industries for the economic and social development for vibrant growth and is
strongly monitored by the Government of Gujarat. For this accomplishment,
Government has taken innovative decisions with the help of policy and a proper
investment is needed to develop tourist destination.
Environment sustainability is one of the “Millennium
Development Goals” and it can be achieved by sustainable tourism, it is found
that many heritages & archaeological places are deteriorating; hence it is
necessary to preserve them through proper measures.
Sustainable tourism refers to the present as well as
future generation for the preservation of resources which ensure the stability.
It should endeavor to make minimum effect on the environment with the
conservation of ecosystem and assist with maximum employment and income for the
local people. For sustainable development it is indispensable to maintain
ethics from the tourist as well as local people and prepare some guidelines for
both of them. Sustainable tourism is requisite to preserve our heritage,
tradition and culture.
It
is very important to conserve environment for the succeeding generation so as
to cherish the environment. If we develop our environment as carbon free than
our environment would survive for our future generation to enjoy. Therefore it’s essential to protect our
environment which aims to the protection of natural resources and quality of
environment, increase productivity with less consumption of resources where
required with the support of innovative production methods for the formation of
sustainable society.
WHY
SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IS ESSENTIAL?
Sustainable
tourism is essential for the small tourist spot which are overcrowded with the
tourist especially important for a small state like Goa since the influx of
both Indian and foreign tourists specially to beaches, spiritual places etc. is
high, it is very important to maintain
ecological balance over there. For this it is necessary that a tourist should
be responsible and take care of the heritage.
For
sustainable development we have to consider the effect of tourism on the
environment. Some optimistic approaches of tourism are as follows:
a)
Financial effect comes from domestic and foreign sources in form of tourist as
well as investor which leads to capital inflow in the country.
b)
It improves Environment consciousness among the tourist and the localities.
c)
It provides employment in organized and unorganized sector.
Some
Pessimistic approaches of tourism are as follows:
a)
Exhaustion of natural resources in the form of water, air and noise pollution
destroy some of the species in the environment.
b)
Land degradation has increased due to construction of hotels and other related
facilities.
c)
Overflow of tourist on small places where it is unmanageable to handle leads to
creation of unfavorable situations for tourists as well as residents, because
they have to pay higher cost for accommodation, foods, transportation etc.
Some
Measures to be taken for the developments of sustainable tourism are as
follows:
a)
Some of the small tourist places are congested with people at places like spiritual shrines, beaches, historical places
etc. therefore some alternative spot should be developed to divide crowd from
the concentrated areas. It will help tourists to avail the accommodation
facilities and facilitates the investor and also create employment to the
localities.
b)
By implementing such measures improves the quality of services and leads to
control the price of the product so tourists are motivated to revisit the spot
provided they find it affordable.
c)
Enhanced transportation facilities by systematic development, so as to provide
easily accessible as well as affordable travel for the middle income group
tourist
d) Finally and most important is the security of women
especially foreigners because we have seen many shameful instances in the
recent past.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Viramgami &Patel (2012),analyzed the tourist
traffic trends in Gujarat, it provide comparative study of tourist resources
according to gender, age, quality of food, price being charged for services for
tourism. They studied the resources and facilities which tourists have answered
through questionnaire which include Indian as well as foreign tourist and
suggested that for tourist promotion in Gujarat some extra activities should be
introduced for its betterment.
Choudhury, (2012) studied the number of strategies
that should be implemented by Government which benefits the local people and
increases the government revenue. He
also stated that tourisms centered on wild resources the local people are
themselves engaged for the protection and conservation of wild animals.
ABOUT GUJARAT AS A TOURIST DESTINATION
Gujarat is consecrated with natural spots like hill
station like Saputar, wild life like Asiatic Lion, Wild Ass, Indian Bustard,
Black buc, four-horned antelope, and Boralia Species which are the exceptional
species, historical destination like Lethal, Plaitana, Champaner, beaches like
Chorwad, Gopnath, Tithal, Dumas, Dwarka and Somnath, spiritual places
Akshardham Somnath, Dwarka, Ambaji, Dakor, Palitana, Girnar, Pavagadh, Kapila
and many more etc. are here in Gujarat.
It is essential for the government to develop a sustainable tourism to
attract more and more tourist in Gujarat and to develop tourism spot by various
innovative techniques.
TOURISM
POLICIES OF GUJARAT AFTER 1991
In Gujarat tourism Department was established in 1972
which was followed by the development of Tourism of Gujarat in 1978 with an aim
to promote to tourism as a sector. The corporation has developed facilities
related to accommodation at many places like Mandvi, Porbandar, Tithal, Somnath,
Dwarka, Pavagadh, Dakor etc. "The Royal Orient Train" with the
collaboration of the Indian Railway has also been set up to connect between
Gujarat and Rajasthan.
Government of Gujarat has introduced three tourism policies
since 1991.
1) 1991-1995
2) 1995-2000
3)2003-2010
1991-95:
The objective of the policy is to create adequate
facilities for the tourist, identify and develop the new tourist destinations
and developed the existing tourist spot and develop the pilgrimage places,
finally to achieve it develop and strengthen the existing infrastructure
facilities.
1995-2000:
The objectives
of the policy was to develop tourism as an industry, tourism units categorized based on investment, tax
holiday of 5 to 10 years for new units for the expansion and 22 categories of
tourism projects were exempted from luxury tax, sales tax and entertainment
tax.
2003-10:
The objectives of the policy are diversification of
the tourist product, develop tourist circuit, infrastructure development,
implement innovative marketing and promotional tools, human resources
development and encourage private participation in tourist sector.
The tourism policy focused on the event based tourism
where government of Gujarat encourages festivals like Makar Sankranti and Navratri
to attract National as well as International Tourist.
The policy focused on infrastructure development in
the state by developing road, railways, airways etc. it encouraged private
investment in the infrastructure development. It also aimed to restructure the
tax norms respectively in like Luxury Tax, Entertainment Tax and Sales Tax for
the encouragement of tourism.
For the state economic development there were various
opportunities the government has projected in the policy like Hospitality
industry ,Eco tourism, Viswa Gram Global
village, Dinosaur theme park, Cruise trips with whale watch etc., Deep diving
and snorkeling of coral island, Golf courses, Royal orient gauge conversion,
Special Entertainment Zones, Wayside amenities.
Social
benefits projected are to provide employment opportunities of per 10 Lacs
provide 90 jobs.
RECENT
INITIATIVE
The international tourist’s arrival increased by CAGR
of 45 % and almost 2% of tourist in Gujarat are international tourists. The
number of tourist have increased by 16 million in 2008 as compared to 8 million
in 2004 with growing CAGR OF 20% which is higher than the total number of
tourists for India is 11%. Ahmadabad, Ambaji and Dwarka 30 % of the total
tourist flow in the Gujarat.
Amitabh bachchan is the brand Ambassador for Gujarat
Tourism with "Khushboo Gujarat Ki" for the Promotion of tourism in
Gujarat.Gujarat state tourism and health
minister Jay Narayan Vyas spoke about the tourism at the International
Conference on Sustainable Tourism on 27 September, 2012 said that sustainable
development of tourism must take into account the preservation of nature and
environment, only then future generations would benefit from it. He added that
the growth of tourism by 2025 will keep behind the agriculture sector. He
included that the development of medical tourism will take place in which
people get world class medical treatment at lower cost than in developed
countries.
Tourism Incentive Package Scheme (TIPS) 2010-15 is
being proposed by the Government ought of offers incentives like Tax Holiday on
Luxury Tax, VAT on food and beverages, Entertainment Tax, concession such as
interest subsidy, reduction of Electricity duty and VAT on natural gas. Some
more incentives and concessions would give to Hotels, Resorts, Amusement Parks,
Heritage Hotels, and Tourist Bus etc.
To provide traditional and cultural touch Government
is identifying the place for development of Heritage village. Gujarat has
heritage properties which has great scope for investment for the development of
Hotels. The state gives special incentives for Heritage Hotels with capital
investment subsidy, interest and concession in stamp duty.
The policy supports no luxury tax on room up to Rs
500. VAT on food reduced to 4% as compared to 12% from other states.
Figure 1: Contribution
of Tourism to the state GDP
Sources:
Ministry of tourism and culture, Dept. of Tourism, Market Research Division,
2003
Figure 2: Tourist Arrival Goals
Sources: Ministry of tourism and culture, Dept. of Tourism, Market
Research Division, 2003
CONCLUSION:
Tourism in
Gujarat is rapidly increase therefore sustainable development in tourism is the
utmost requirement to attract tourist in the state. It is one of the United
Nation’s “Millennium Development Goals”. The recent policy of 2003-10 has
developed many innovative steps for the development of tourism.
When tourists visit a place they spend on goods and
service
his expenses injects money into the local economy and
creates multiplier effects. The policy must be effective in terms of
sustainable development of tourism, as it is a service sector which has
potential to grow if it is channelized in proper direction which undoubtedly
would be helpful in the economic growth of the state in term of GDP
contribution, employment and investment in tourism sector.
REFERENCES:
Viramgami, Hitesh S and Patel, J, K, A comparative study of tourist resources of
Gujarat state, EXCEL International journal of Multidisciplinary Management
Studies, Vol.2 Issue 2, February 2012
Asif Iabal Fazili and S. Husain Ashraf, Tourism in India: Planning and Development,
publication Sarup and Sons, New Delhi (2006)
GOI, (2004) India Tourism Statistics 2004. Ministry of
Tourism, Market Research Division New Delhi, GOI
WEBSITE
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http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/
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http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/vibrant-gujarat-summit.htm
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http://www.vibrantgujarat.com/images/pdf/tourism-details.pdf
accessed on 1st Nov 2012
http://tourism.gov.in/writereaddata/CMSPagePicture/file/marketresearch/studyreports/Sustainable_Tourism_Report_for_MOT-GOI-%20FINAL%20APPROVED.pdf
accessed on 2nd Nov 2012
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