Gujarat Tourism bags three National Tourism Awards

Gujarat Tourism bags three National Tourism Awards

Gujarat Tourism has bagged three National Tourism Awards for best tourism film, innovative use of information and technology and one of the best State for comprehensive development of tourism in the country. Under the best tourism film category “Khushboo Gujarat Ki” campaign fetched the award for Gujarat Tourism while Gujarat grabbed the third prize for one of the best State under the Comprehensive Development of Tourism (Rest of India) category after Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Gujarat Tourism has launched “Khushboo Gujarat Ki” (fragrance of Gujarat) campaign in 2011 to promote various tourist destinations and to uphold rich culture and tradition of Gujarat. The campaign is being anchored by Megastar Amitabh Bachchan.

Announcing these Awards in New Delhi on March 12, Indian Tourism Minister Mr. Chiranjeevi said every year the categories of awards are reviewed with new categories being added to recognize excellence in diverse fields, in accordance with the requirements of changing times. He said recognising the importance of Cinema as a powerful tool for the development and promotion of the destinations, the Ministry has instituted a National Tourism Award for “Best Tourism Film” and Gujarat is the first State to bag the National Tourism Award under the best tourism film category.

Khushboo Gujarati Ki Campaign by Amitabh Bachchan

In 2010, Gujarat Tourism signed an agreement with noted Bollywood Megastar Amitabh Bachchan and engaged him to be the brand ambassador to promote various destinations of Gujarat. Since taking over as the brand ambassador of Gujarat, Amitabh Bachchan has promoted places like Kutch, Dwarka, Somnath and Gir National Forest in the first phase of campaign.

 

During the second phase, Amitabh Bachchan, has projected Saputara, a hilly station of Gujarat bordering Maharashtra, Porbandar, birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, Lothal,  one of the most prominent cities of the ancient Indus valley civilization and Sidhpur, a sacred town in Gujarat where last rituals of Mother is performed.

All these destinations are seeing double digit growth in tourist inflow including 30 per cent increase in foreign tourists. In 2006-07, the figure stood at 1.27 crore*, which increased to 1.70 crore in 2009-10. In 2009-10, total tourist inflow in Gujarat was 17011247 while in 2010-11 the total tourist inflow increased by more than 28 lacks taking the total to 1.98 crore. During 2011-12, the total inflow of tourists in Gujarat was 2.23 crore out of which 4.5 lakh** were foreign with a sharp increase of more than 14 per cent over the previous year.

 

Through the Kushboo Gujarat Ki campaign, Amitabh Bachchan has not only projected various tourist destinations, he has also featured Gujarat's rich tradition and various festivals like Kutch Festival.

 

Announcing these awards, Union Tourism Minister Mr. Chiranjeevi said it is an ongoing endeavour of the Ministry to diversify the tourism products of the country by developing and promoting new niche segments, so as to attract different categories of tourists with diverse interests and to promote India as a year - round destination. In keeping with this thrust of the Ministry, new categories of awards for “Medical Tourism Facilities” and for “Tour Operators Promoting Niche segments” had been introduced in 2011.

Hyderabad based Apollo Health City has bagged the Medical Tourism Facility Award while Mr. Yann Martel, author of the Book “Life of Pi”, has been awarded with a special National Tourism Award for promoting India (Puducherry and Munnar) through the film.

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India annually presents National Tourism Awards to various segments of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. These awards are being given since the early 1990s and are presented to State Governments / Union Territories, classified hotels, heritage hotels, approved travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators, individuals and other private organizations in recognition of their performance in their respective fields and also to encourage healthy competition with an aim to promote tourism.

The National Tourism Awards for the year 2011-12 will be given away at a function to be held at New Delhi on March 18 when the President of India will grace the occasion as Chief Guest and give away the awards in various categories.

*Crore is equal to ten million (10,000,000)
** Lakh is equal to one hundred thousand (100,000)

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Gujarat could not find place on India Promotion Calendar 2012

Khushboo Gujarat Ki (fragrance of Gujarat) could not find a place from the India Promotion Calendar 2012 released by Indian Tourism Minister, Subodh Kant Sahai in New Delhi on December 14, 2011. The Calendar projects India’s cultural diversity by showcasing the rich architectural heritage of the country, its natural beauty and the multitude of faiths, through various tourist destinations in the country. The Minister expressed the hope that the calendar will play an important role in promoting tourism in India.

Each leaf of the calendar carries a border depicting the traditional fabric of the represented States alongwith a brief descriptive. The 12 page calendar depicts Taj Mahal of Uttar Pradesh, the back waters of Kerala, Lotus Temple of Delhi, Golden Temple of Amritsar, Mahabodhi Tree of Bodhgaya in Bihar, Tso-Moriri Lake of Ladakh, Kedarnath Temple of Uttaranchal, Victoria Memorial of West Bengal, Gurudongmar Lake of Sikkim, Hampi Ruins of Karnataka, Jaisalmer fort of Rajasthan and the National animal - Tiger.

The promotional calendars of the Ministry of Tourism of the Indian Government are widely distributed in India and Overseas, with the objective of promoting the tourism destinations and products of the country. They are sent to the trade and media in India and Overseas, Foreign Missions in India and Indian Missions Overseas, India tourism Offices in India and Overseas, etc.

Meanwhile, the India Promotion Calendar invited a severe criticism from the people of Gujarat which could not find any place in the Calendar.

“It is unfortunate” said a supporter of Gujarat Tourism adding “here in Gujarat you will discover centuries of history as spanning the geological core of the earth onto a fascinatingly vibrant future.”

Union Government led by Congress, should not play politics with its political rival BJP which rules Gujarat when promoting the country as a preferred tourist destination, said a tourist service provider from Gujarat.

It is said that Gujarat is unique in its geological and topographical landscape. From volcanic outpourings through bedrock to fossil fields of indegenous dinosaurs; from the art of the neolithic cave painter to the stone masterpieces of a series of civilized architecture. Gujarat has it all.

Earlier in 2010, noted actor Amitabh Bachchan had been roped to be the brand ambassador of the Gujarat Tourism. Since taking over the brand ambassador of Gujarat, Amitabh Bachchan promoted places like Kutch, Dwarka, Somnath and Gir National Park. 

All these destinations are seeing double digit growth in tourist arrivals including 30 per cent increase in foreign tourists. In 2006-07, the figure stood at 1.27 lakh, which increased to 1.70 lakh in 2009-10. In 2010-11, nearly two lakh tourists arrived.

In the second phase of campaign, Bachchan is promoting places like Saputara, Ambaji, Adalaj step wells and the Buddhist circuit. Gujarat Tourism Corporation is expecting sharp increase in tourist arrivals for these places as well.

Over the next two years, the Gujarat Government will pump in Rs.650 crore towards developing tourism activities and promoting tourism infrastructure.

‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ campaign proves ‘The Customer is King’

Atithi Devo Bhavah [Atithi devo bhavaḥ] (English: 'The guest is God' or 'Guest become God') is a Sanskrit verse, taken from an ancient Hindu scripture which became part of the "code of conduct" for Hindu society. Atithi Devo Bhavah regards a procedure of the Host-Guest relationship. Recently it has also become the tag line of India's Ministry of Tourism's campaign to improve the treatment of tourists in India; the Indian version of Peter Drucker's customer satisfaction slogan, 'The customer is king'.

Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign by Amir Khan

India attracts millions of tourists each year, 3.3 million in 2003, but lags far behind other destinations. To attempt to improve the number of tourists travelling to India, the Tourism Department of India started the Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign with the theme The Incredible India.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a Social Awareness Campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourist a greater sense of being welcomed to the country. The campaign targets the general public, while focusing mainly on the stakeholders of the tourism industry. The campaign provides training and orientation to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, police and other personnel who interact directly with the tourist.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was roped in as the brand ambassador of the 'Atithi Devo Bhavah' campaign for the Ministry of Tourism.

As the old saying goes, “Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.” That is the essence of Atithi Devo Bhavah. It’s all about developing a sense of responsibility towards tourists in India and preserving India’s rich culture and heritage.

And for that to happen, there was a need to change the attitude towards tourists. There were vivid instances where the touch of hospitality was seen lost. It was hospitality on which India was known for. - The campain - Atithi Devo Bhavah was aimed to bring that warmth back.

Atithi Devo Bhavah was a seven point program of hospitality and training. The insight of seven points are hereunder:

Samvedan Sheelta or Sensitisation: Educate various sections of the tourism industry on how each one of them contributes to the growth of the tourism industry.

Prashikshan or Training and Induction: Teach people how to approach and interact with a tourist, as this forms the ‘moment of truth’ in any service industry.

Prerna or Motivation: Motivate people to participate in this programme through various measures e.g. awards/recognition for the best worker in the segment.

Pramani Karan or Certification: Certification to ensure that standards shall be maintained at all times in the training programme.

Pratipushti or Feedback: Obtain feedback from the tourists about the service they have received and the experience they’ve had.

Samanya Bodh or General Awareness: The mass media communication campaign will be undertaken to create general awareness among the public about the necessity and the benefits of the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme.

Swamitwa or Ownership: Adopt the Atithi Devo Bhavah movement as your own, fellow Indians, for many livelihoods are dependent on tourism.

The social campaign by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Atithi Devo Bhavah has done a miracle for the ministry. The impact of this specific campaign can be measured based on two parameters - Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India and Foreign Exchange Earnings.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the Month of September, 2011 was 4.01 lakh as compared to FTAs of 3.69 lakh during the month of September, 2010 and 3.31 lakh in August, 2009. There has been a growth of 8.7 per cent in September, 2011 over September, 2010 as compared to a growth of 11.6  per cent registered in September 2010 over September, 2009. The growth of 8.7 per cent in September 2011 is higher than 5.3 per cent in August, 2011. FTAs during the period January-September, 2011 were 42.20 lakh with a growth of 10.0 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 38.35 lakh with a growth of 8.0  per cent during January-September 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) during the month of September 2011 were Rs. 5748 crore as compared to Rs. 4678 crore in September 2010 and Rs 3798 crore in September 2009. The growth rate in FEE in Rs terms in September 2011 was 22.9 per cent as compared to 23.2 per cent in September 2010 over September 2009. FEE from tourism in rupee terms during January-September 2011 were Rs. 53761 crore with a growth of 16.6 per cent, as compared to the FEE of Rs. 46115 crore with a growth of 22.7 per cent during January- September 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009.

FEE in US$ terms during the month of September 2011 were US$ 1208 million as compared to FEE of US$ 1015 million during the month of September, 2010 and US$ 785 million in September 2009. The growth rate in FEE in US$ terms in September 2011 over September 2010 was 19 per cent as compared to the growth of 29.3 per cent in September 2010 over September 2009. FEE from tourism in terms of US$ during January-September 2011 were US$ 11886 million with a growth of 18.7 per cent, as compared to US$ 10012 million with a growth of 30.5 per cent during January-August 2010 over the corresponding Period of 2009.

A proud to be Indian said, this is really a good initiative taken by the Government of India to improve India's image. We Indians have very good ethics and moral values, but somewhere there is some glitch caused due to increasing westernization and broadcast explicit media on television. All we need is a refurbishment and revival of our moral ethics and this is being done very well through the campaign - Atithi Devo Bhavah.

After many instances of foreign women being raped in India were observed, foreign visitors got discouraged. To repair India’s tarnished image, Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign with brand ambassador film actor Aamir Khan was initiated to increase people’s awareness which is now paying dividend.