Fa-Hien, Huan-Tsang, Ibn-Battuta, Domingo Paes, and Abdur Razzak came to India as travelers and tourists and made observations about Indian society and the Indian way of living. Their writings and collections spread worldwide, thus creating a unique and important identity for India in the global arena, which later led to its prosperity and growth in trade, proving tourism to be a game-changer for India.

Tourism is the activity of visiting a place in pursuit of knowledge, recreation, learning new cultures, perspectives, and enhancing one’s own personality and thinking. Tourism leads to the exchange of ideas, interaction of cultures, movement of people, thereby creating bonds between people of different areas. India, with its diversity in geography, culture, society, ecology, ethnicities, history, religion, etc., can attract people from around the world and has the potential of becoming a tourist destination. It will help India in all-round development and gain an important stature at the world level.

Let us now look at how tourism can be a game-changer for India, the challenges in achieving this potential, and the measures required to overcome these challenges.

Tourism promotes employment and upliftment of local people
With the increase in tourists, there will be an increase in demand for facilities such as guides, hospitality services, market areas, transport, etc. All these services can be provided by the local people, which promotes their gainful employment in these activities. Rural tourism is on the rise, as people in urban areas seek an escape from their busy hectic lives. The rural people can supplement their income by providing hospitality services. The traditional rural way of living, cooking, dancing, singing are all gaining popularity. Catering to these demands can improve the living standards of rural areas.

Food tourism is the visit to places where unique and special local delicacies are available. For example, Biryani of Hyderabad, Vada Pav of Mumbai, Rosogolla of Kolkata, Momos of North East India, etc., are all famous for their unique food items. Promotion to restaurants and local street food vendors can promote their business and attract food bloggers and food tourists, thereby improving their business.

Tourism is a great contributor to soft power.
Religious tourism of important religious sites like Buddhist sites of Gaya, Vaishali, Sarnath, Sanchi; Jain sites of Mt. Abu, Gomateshwara; Hindu sites of Ayodhya, Varanasi, Tirupati, Rameswaram, etc., will not only increase the livelihood opportunities of local people but will attract tourists from several countries like Japan, China, ASEAN countries, Fiji, Mauritius, South Africa, Caribbean Islands, etc., thus adding to the soft power of India at the international level.

Business tourism in the form of attending important seminars, meetings, international conferences and participating in international trading (GIFT city in Gujarat), international IT business deals makes India a hub of International collaborations and conferences promoting its credibility in the business community and also the political community across the world thus adding to its soft power.

Tourism brings in the most important foreign exchange reserves.
Medical tourism is the visit to advanced medical facilities for treatment of ailments. Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore are turning out to be the hub for medical tourism. People from Middle East Asia, Africa, South Eastern Asia are coming to India for medical treatment bringing along with them the much-needed foreign exchange reserves which improves India’s economic power.

Monument tourism is the visit of old monuments in pursuit of learning history. India has abundant historical monuments which are famous worldwide. Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, India Gate, Red Fort, Victoria Memorial, Gateway of India, Ajanta & Ellora caves, Vijayanagar temples are some examples when tourists flock in. Preservation of these monuments will help bring more tourists and hence more foreign reserves.

Tourism helps in the development of backward areas.
Sports tourism, especially adventure sports can be promoted in the hilly areas of Himalayan states. Tribal tourism in the areas of Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, North East India will promote the culture of these areas. Ecological tourism in forests of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Jharkhand will provide new areas of treasure.

With tourism reaching these places there will be increased connectivity, rise in incomes, greater assimilation of people. This will reduce their backwardness and their tendency to join new realities (or) separatists, thus promoting unity of India.

Tourism can promote social harmony.
With increased exposure to various places, cultures ideas, traditions Indians can become more tolerant in their outlook and grow richer in terms of culture and better awareness towards history. The very understanding of India as an entity will improve leading to the national building process which is of utmost importance in case of children which can be promoted by educational tourism.

However, there are some challenges in achieving the desired result. There needs to be an increase in connectivity by road, air, rail and water. Proper facilities such as public toilets, hospitals, emergency care systems must be created. Law and order should be properly managed to improve the security of the tourists. There must be visa on arrival for tourists in order to make India a tourist hub. Skill development of the locals is important to promote their ability to provide better services and interact with the tourists. Publicity must be created not only within the country but across the globe to attract more tourists. Environment and ecology must be taken care of and cannot be compromised in the guise of tourism.

The government has already begun with programs like Apni Dharohar, Swadesh Darshan, Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, Know India Program, AMRIT, PRASAD, HRIDAY, etc., to improve tourism in the country.

Thus, tourism surely has the potential to transform India economically, politically, socially at the domestic level and at the International level. Hence there is an urgent need to improve the tourist ecosystem in the country to make the best use of the opportunity of attracting international tourists and transforming India in a big way.