CREATING & CAPITALIZING TOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN INDIA

Realizing the potential of India in tourism sector and positive cascading effects of growth in tourism industry has mobilized Indian government to create and develop new tourist destinations. Multicultural India offers tremendous opportunity in ‘recession proof’ Faith Tourism by developing new India travel circuits- Buddhist pilgrimage tours for ASEAN countries, Jewish centre in Kochi to visit one of the oldest synagogue, British era war cemeteries for the westerners, 22 Sufi shrines for moderate Muslims, Hindu pilgrimages spanning length and breadth of Indian subcontinent, various Jain pilgrimage circuits covering Bihar and western part of India, Sikh pilgrimage tours encompassing Nanded in Maharashtra to Amritsar. The spiritual tourism circuits are new places to be explored, bringing prosperity to every nook and corner of India.   
  

The sincerity of Indian government towards tourism is quite visible in relaxation of rules to allocate tourist visa. But the most promising signals are being shown from various state governments. Bihar is recognized the importance of the holy river Ganga and developing various projects related to tourism revolving around cultural Ganga. Gujarat is exploring possibility of capitalizing on the surge of Ayurvedic treatment and massage. Gujarat has established an Ayurvedic University as well. West Bengal is come out of slumber and is exploring to promote wildlife tourism along with unique cultural practices. Many Buddhist sites are already on the map of India tourism and many more are being explored in provinces like Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

The Indian travel agents or Indian tour operators will have to gear up for offering appropriate Indiatour packages catering varied needs of the visitors.