- 3 years ago
In this Panel Discussion on Rethinking Policy and Enabling Better Practices, the Moderator is Mr CV Ramkumar with our esteemed panelists Mr Atri Bhattacharya, Principle Secretary of Home and Hill Affairs of West Bengal, Mr Rupesh Kumar, Co-ordinator of Kerala's Responsible Tourism Mission, Mr Soman S Pathy, nodal officer of Gujrat Tourism and Ms Meenakshi Sharma, Additional Director General of Ministry of Tourism.
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00:00 So, we have a panel discussion and the topic is "Rethinking Policy, Enabling Better Practices".
00:08 And we ask, in the panel discussion, we'll ask a few public officials how they plan to
00:15 break the mould.
00:17 The moderator for this session is Mr. C.B.
00:20 Ramkumar, member of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council and founder of Our Native
00:26 Village, an eco-tourism resort near Bangalore.
00:30 Our eminent panelists are Mr. Atri Bhattacharya, Principal Secretary, Home and Hill Affairs
00:37 and Tourism, West Bengal; Mr. Rupesh Kumar, Coordinator of Kerala's Responsible Tourism
00:44 Mission; we've got Mr. Soman S. Pati, Liaison and Nodal Officer, Gujarat Tourism; and Ms.
00:52 Meenakshi Sharma, Additional Director General for Ministry of Tourism.
00:57 Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like your support in welcoming our moderator and our panelists
01:05 on stage.
01:06 May I please invite you all to please join us.
01:13 And I'll hand you over to Mr. Ramkumar as they discuss "Rethinking Policy, Enabling
01:35 Better Practices".
01:37 Sir, I hand over to you.
01:41 Can we get some mics here please?
01:49 Thank you.
01:50 Thank you.
01:51 Thank you.
02:05, okay.
02:15 I think we're on now, yeah.
02:28 Is my mic working?
02:29 Yeah?
02:30 Okay, thank you.
02:31 Welcome to the panelists.
02:33 Like it was said in the introduction, we have a very eminent panel here.
02:40 Talking about policy, quite often when we talk about tourism, there's a habit that we
02:47 dump everything on the government.
02:49 Everything is related to policy.
02:51 And we depend on policy so much, at least at the conceptual level.
02:56 I think most tourism operators will agree that once a policy is written, nobody really
03:01 looks at it.
03:03 Because 80-85% of tourism is private sector.
03:08 It's the private operators who carry on tourism.
03:11 Government has a few of its interests in tourism from a commercial perspective in terms of
03:17 some of the tourism establishments that they run.
03:19 But besides that, most of tourism is activated on the ground by the private sector.
03:25 And very rarely does the private sector sit down and say, "What is happening at the policy
03:29 level because we're too busy running our business?"
03:32 Having said that, obviously policy plays a role in terms of setting a guideline for the
03:39 overall development of tourism.
03:41 And it's interesting and important, of course, to discuss policy because policy can do a
03:46 lot as far as the industry is concerned.
03:49 And it's even more interesting in this forum, actually, to be talking about policy, to be
03:53 rethinking policy, rethinking policy to enable better practices, as the title says.
04:00 And it's interesting from what Megan said just earlier.
04:03 Tourism seems to be all about promotion rather than protection.
04:08 Tourism seems to be consuming resources which are disproportionate to the value it adds
04:11 back to the economies of countries.
04:14 So in that overall scenario, it will be useful and interesting to get the perspective of
04:20 the panelists on what can we do with policy to ensure that policy plays a role as far
04:27 as responsibility is concerned, as far as responsible tourism is concerned.
04:32 What can we do with policy to ensure that it enables better practices on the ground?
04:37 At the end of the day, tourism is as good as its implementation at a local level.
04:42 At a central level, all you can do is write policy.
04:45 So how do we implement policy at a local level to ensure that it translates to better practices
04:51 on the ground?
04:53 So what I will do now is I will request my panelists to give their opening remarks on
04:57 the subject of what can we do with policy to enable better practices on the ground.
05:05 Everybody may not have the answers.
05:06 Sometimes we may have questions that we will hopefully try and answer in the course of
05:11 this panel discussion.
05:13 But more importantly, if there are questions, it will be questions that all of us here in
05:17 the audience need to ponder.
05:19 There is no one sort of cookie cutter approach to all these issues.
05:22 So it will be interesting for all of us to ponder these questions also.
05:26 But first, let me request my panelists to give their opening remarks on what they feel
05:32 as far as policy is concerned and how it can enable better practices.
05:37 So if I can start with you, Mr. Sharma, if you could give us your views on what can we
05:43 do with policy to ensure that it results in better practices on the ground from a governmental
05:48 perspective.
05:49 Basically, the state of Gujarat, when we worked on our policy, we not only made it a mission,
05:58 but we wanted to see that the last mile, it is able to be converted into reality what
06:07 we plan.
06:08 First, we did contact with the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, because they
06:18 had come up with good ideas, good policies, plus we did work with other states.
06:23 Together, we implemented a policy that was practical.
06:29 And for example, like in a desert, the great runoff Kutch, we had issues.
06:39 When tourists used to go there, they used to throw garbage.
06:44 They used to sort of not have sort of ideas how to go about it.
06:51 So what we did was we first got a policy made wherein a project as such, we would outsource
07:02 it to the local villages.
07:04 So we had skill development done in those villages.
07:08 We built infrastructure like the bunga huts and trained them to see to it that when tourists
07:16 come, they are looked after at the same time to see that the place remains clean.
07:23 So it was without the participation of the local people, it was not at all possible to
07:28 implement anything.
07:30 So the policy should be such that it reaches the end product.
07:35 And we have participation of not only the tourists, but the people of those villages.
07:41 So then it became a success story.
07:42 Otherwise, we would have had a whole lot of mismanagement in the white run.
07:49 Similarly, in the Gir sanctuary, Sasan Gir, basically Gir was a place wherein when I was
08:00 posted about 15 years ago, there was about 250 plus.
08:04 But now, I believe in the last census, it's 400 plus.
08:08 That means the sanctuary has been protected, preserved.
08:12 And the role played by the government was as such that their inhabitants inside, the
08:23 Siddhis, the African Muslims who migrated there during the Nawab of Junagadh time, they
08:31 also play a very important role to protect and see that the forest is kept clean.
08:37 So local participation was important.
08:40 Okay, that's interesting that you say local participation.
08:43 And there's one example of local participation and the way it's played out very well, which
08:48 is when we come to Kerala tourism.
08:50 So I'm going to ask Rupesh to give us a brief on how the responsible tourism mission in
08:55 Kerala, how the policy got implemented at ground level, and what are the results of
09:01 that, if you can share that with us, Rupesh.
09:03 Hi, good morning.
09:05 Actually, Kerala tourism already declared a new tourism policy on December 2017.
09:13 It is in continuation with the tourism policy which was already declared on 2013.
09:22 I think Kerala tourism policy is mainly focused on the effective implementation of responsible
09:28 tourism and sustainable tourism practices.
09:32 From that perspective, the government of Kerala decided to start and form a responsible
09:37 tourism mission.
09:38 The responsible tourism mission is in charge of effective implementation of responsible
09:44 tourism and sustainable tourism practices in destinations and at field level.
09:50 Actually Kerala started its responsible tourism initiative during the year 2007.
09:55 I think I had a presentation in the previous responsible tourism summit in the same venue.
10:04 At that time I mentioned that Kerala responsible tourism initiative was the result of communities
10:11 agitation against unethical and unscientific tourism development.
10:17 I was also the part of such agitations and later became the part of responsible tourism
10:21 movement by the government of Kerala.
10:26 And now, recently Kerala tourism declared the policy which is actually derived from
10:32 the grass root and with the support of the tourism industry.
10:37 At first when we talked about, when we discussed about responsible tourism in Kerala, tourism
10:44 industry was in a dilemma that they are afraid that the involvement of local community in
10:52 tourism will be more confusing, will create more problems in the political scenario of
11:00 Kerala.
11:01 But later Kerala tourism industry, the major player of Kerala tourism industry in the name
11:09 of Kerala travel mark society, they themselves declared a policy for the implementation of
11:16 responsible tourism and sustainable tourism.
11:20 During the year 2016, they declared a nine point agenda for the implementation of sustainable
11:25 tourism practices.
11:26 This is the best model I think.
11:29 And later they formed KTM foundation to implement the policy effectively in destination and
11:37 we worked together, Kerala responsible tourism mission and the department of tourism and
11:41 the KTM foundation is jointly working in destination for the effective implementation of responsible
11:47 tourism and sustainable tourism practices at present.
11:51 This is what is happening in Kerala now.
11:54 And this is the first time I think in India a government initiative started for conducting
12:01 special tourism grammar sabhas at grass root level.
12:05 They already declared a new project in the name of PEPR which is focusing on people's
12:11 participation for participatory planning and empowerment through responsible tourism.
12:16 The core concept is tourism grammar sabhas.
12:20 We are conducting as part of responsible tourism mission, responsible tourism mission and department
12:26 of tourism, conducting tourism grammar sabhas with the support of local self-governments
12:31 in destinations at LSD level.
12:34 We will convene all the stakeholders of tourism industry in that grammar sabhas and the people
12:42 representatives will be there, local craftsmen will be there.
12:45 There will be a discussion about the tourism development in destinations.
12:50 I think now Kerala became more tourism friendly destination only because of the new policy,
12:57 only because of the grass root level involvement.
12:59 Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan: That's interesting.
13:01 So you are saying that there is a policy but to implement the policy you use the private
13:05 sector which is the foundation, which is the tour operators and all of them and that's
13:09 how you are translating it onto the ground.
13:11 So I want to move to you, Athreya.
13:15 From what you heard Mr. Sharma say and what Rupesh just said, what are your views as far
13:20 as Bengal itself is concerned because there is just so much of tourism potential as far
13:24 as the state is concerned.
13:26 What are your views on formulating policy and implementing them on the ground?
13:31 Dr. Rupesh Narayan: Well you have to understand that we have a policy but we have been trying
13:36 to come out with a new policy.
13:38 We decided we wouldn't do it right now because I think the way forward is to accept that
13:46 just because I am in government I do not necessarily know everything.
13:51 So the way to do it, what we have done is we have had a few meetings with stakeholders
13:55 and we have put it out to them and we are getting some feedback, what Rupesh said about
13:59 grass roots stuff.
14:00 So we are talking to the industry about what is possible and what is profitable because
14:08 the discussion I was having with Megan last night when you…
14:12 See to make responsible tourism work you have got to have the stakeholders understand that
14:17 it is good for them.
14:19 Until they internalize that message you cannot impose it.
14:23 Restrictions, sanctions are not going to work.
14:26 You will still end up with, you know, put it away for packets and plastic bottles all
14:32 over the place.
14:34 So I think the basic question we have to address and that is why I came here to learn is, they
14:41 were saying yesterday, donde esta el dinero, where is the money?
14:47 If we can, so our motto is growth through quality, profit through quality.
14:57 And the reason our policy is going slow is that we want to make sure we have all the
15:04 stakeholders on board.
15:06 To begin with, our emphasis is on small initiatives instead of huge tourism projects, you know.
15:15 Keep it small, eco stays, farm stays, home stays, jungle treks, the kind of stuff where
15:25 you do not necessarily have 5,000 people coming into one property through the year.
15:32 That is a lot of wear and tear.
15:35 So keep it small but make more of them, go for the volumes.
15:39 And having talked to people over the last few, I have only been in tourism for, only
15:47 worked in tourism for about 10 months now.
15:50 So I am still comparatively new.
15:51 But I have been a tourist for some 40 years.
15:54 So I have that perspective to bring to it.
15:56 And if you can, it works both ways.
16:00 The people who are running the facilities have to understand that you get more custom,
16:06 you get more business in the modern world if you prove that you are sustainable.
16:12 You know, I am a little cynical about this like organic and so on.
16:17 It's not always true.
16:19 But on balance, the more you care for the environment, the more, the longer your facility
16:28 is going to earn, the longer your facility is going to stay alive.
16:34 So that is the message we have to get across and we will try to do it.
16:38 The government has about 42 properties and it's not easy, they are all across the state.
16:46 So to start with, what we are doing is we are making those properties kind of pilot
16:52 projects where you can see that this is the way it is.
16:56 These are some basic rules that we are trying.
16:58 So we are going to have solar energy, water harvesting, better waste management systems,
17:04 bring down noise pollution as well, which is very difficult when people want to have
17:09 fun.
17:10 It's this natural tendency.
17:12 And those of you who live in Delhi will totally agree with me that if you want to have fun,
17:19 it's got to be very loud.
17:20 So we've got to work around that.
17:24 All of this, and it's pretty terrible in an urban environment, think of what it does
17:29 when you are on the edge of a forest.
17:32 So these are the messages that we have to get through.
17:35 If you make a noise, your guests won't have any wildlife to see, they'll be 20 miles
17:41 away.
17:42 So I would say that the first priority is not policy.
17:46 The policy will evolve from what the industry wants.
17:49 The first priority is communication and education.
17:56 Motivation.
17:58 This is an exercise we've started and we hope to take it forward.
18:02 And maybe our policy will be delayed by a couple of months or a little more, but eventually
18:08 we'll have something that works.
18:10 That's interesting that you say that you don't want to put the cart before the horse, so
18:17 to speak, in terms of the policy is concerned.
18:19 So I want to move to Meenakshi here.
18:22 All the focus is on, of course, like I said, central government, what is the Ministry of
18:26 Tourism doing from a policy perspective and all of that.
18:30 So what are your views on this, Meenakshi?
18:33 So good morning.
18:36 One of the most interesting subjects and something which I think is engaging all of us.
18:44 And when I say all of us, we mean whether we are the tourist or we are the tourist service
18:49 provider, whether we are the tourism policy makers at the state government level or in
18:55 my position when we are looking at the policy from the government of India.
18:59 See I would like to say that tourism is something which is not necessary, but it is almost part
19:07 of living.
19:09 So when we see it's something kind of a luxury for a tourist, but it should not become a
19:15 burden to the place where the tourist goes.
19:18 So here I agree completely with the Megan that tourism is very important, but it should
19:22 not be a burden.
19:23 We are coming up with a new policy and I think there is a lot of emphasis on looking at the
19:29 policy what for the tourism should be.
19:32 It is one sector which is completely unregulated, if I can say so.
19:37 And it should remain unregulated because it's a industry of pleasure.
19:42 It's an industry which is completely led by the private sector and it is absolutely necessary.
19:49 I just said it not necessary, it's also necessary for the well-being of the people who would
19:54 like to travel, like to explore.
19:57 After saying that, our tourism policy which we are in formulation, which we have done
20:02 with the interaction with the state governments and all the industry and I think my tourism
20:07 ministry is one ministry which meets the stakeholders maybe too much.
20:13 Sometimes the industry stakeholders say that we are invited too many times.
20:18 It has to have the three partners.
20:21 It has to provide the incentives because you have to create an infrastructure which actually
20:28 provide the responsible tourism for the tourism service providers.
20:32 As very clearly brought out that the value chain has become like that, that the profit
20:38 lies somewhere else and the cost lies somewhere else.
20:41 Now how do we handle it?
20:43 We cannot wish away.
20:45 Past is gone, it's only the future.
20:47 It is not that we are going to come back to the older models of payments and the older
20:52 models of booking.
20:53 Can we create certain points where the money comes where it deserves to come?
20:59 And I completely agree that money flowing back in the infrastructure, money flowing
21:05 back in the people who stay there, community is absolutely necessary to keep this industry
21:11 survive.
21:12 The question is of now for survival.
21:16 Interestingly when you mentioned, Megan, that we are not looking at the total tourism which
21:19 involve the domestic tourism, we have a staggering figure in this country.
21:24 1.3 billion people are the domestic tourists who travel all the time.
21:30 We don't even take them as our customers.
21:34 Look at the various policies.
21:35 It only look as the foreign travelers.
21:37 We are, how many?
21:40 The Indian diaspora is 2 billion out of the 7 billion.
21:44 What are we talking about?
21:45 One out of any 3.5 percent in the world are Indians and they are traveling somewhere.
21:52 Have we looked at our policy from that number, number one?
21:56 So do we create those kind of value chain and that would obviously come with some kind
22:01 of a regulation which we are not yet ready.
22:04 But let's raise our concerns, bring this issue on the board that this is absolutely
22:10 necessary.
22:11 So the product has to be created in a fashion which is responsible per se.
22:18 Here the lot of initiatives are there.
22:20 I mean Kerala is telling us various ways and Kerala has been successful quite a lot in
22:24 those ways.
22:25 We need to also look at the responsible tourism providers.
22:29 Let's not forget that we are in it together and we are in it together as a group.
22:34 So when we cut cost, we cut packages, we say we can provide the services sometime telling
22:40 a different thing and actually selling something else, we are entering an arena where we will
22:44 not be able to come out of.
22:46 So I think there is also a responsibility on the tourism providers.
22:49 There is also a responsibility on the tourist but I think in my opinion it comes the last
22:56 whereas normally we keep saying that putting the responsibility on the tourist.
23:01 If we provide a responsible tourism infrastructure, responsible tourism products and a value chain,
23:09 the tourist will normally behave in the same fashion.
23:14 So I think this is my initial thought that it's a huge challenge but I can assure you
23:18 that Government of India is quite engaged with this and we look at this way that we
23:25 need to provide for the travellers per se.
23:28 A product which is spoiled because we have not taken care of the domestic traveller will
23:32 be spoiled for the international travel.
23:35 If we want to go to Taj Mahal and the queues are long, they are long for both or if you
23:39 are not able to enjoy it, none of them are able to enjoy it.
23:42 So I think our policies have to be made in a holistic fashion, bringing everybody together.
23:48 So I think we need to work with, all of us need to work together and kind of take it
23:52 as a major initiative.
23:54 I am very happy that Outlook is doing it, at least bringing it on the top of the envelope.
24:00 So let's talk about it, yeah.
24:01 Questioner 1 (Srinivas Chetty): So it's interesting that you mentioned the Taj Mahal.
24:04 You know, until now Taj Mahal was completely unregulated and suddenly we said, "Oh my
24:08 God, there are too many people going to Taj Mahal."
24:11 And we sort of closed the gates and we said, "Okay, now we got to restrict, we need to
24:15 restrict the number of people who go to Taj Mahal."
24:18 Now, what is it that the Ministry of Tourism is, you know, thinking about from a policy
24:22 framework to ensure that we don't over-exploit tourism destinations?
24:28 And how do we implement that?
24:30 You know, it's how do you implement that policy?
24:33 What is it that you all have in your minds?
24:35 Shikriti Gupta (Srinivas Chetty): So to answer that, we need to have more destinations.
24:41 We have lot of destinations but surprisingly, lot of travelers only go to the few destinations.
24:49 Either there is not even a fairness, we are not telling them, "Okay, this is one destination,
24:54 let me not repeat the same name of the destination."
24:57 But I, just for your information, I think it's a common knowledge among the industry
25:01 that most of the foreign travelers, they only…65% of the international travelers, they only
25:08 visit six ASI monuments.
25:10 I've been told by the industry only, not my data.
25:13 I am only quoting the data which I have received from the industry.
25:18 I mean, we have some 3000 monuments out of which I can say 120 monuments are equally
25:27 deserving to be explored.
25:29 Why people only go to six of them?
25:32 Who is responsible for this thing that we are… certain destination have… are getting
25:38 many, many more times of the carrying capacity and some destination are not being seen, are
25:44 not being enjoyed by the others?
25:46 Is it awareness by the government whether a promotion is only focused on certain products
25:51 or it's the industry which is only proposing some traditional products which are going
25:56 to be exploited by all or the infrastructure is a problem, connectivity is a problem?
26:01 So this is one area where Government of India is working on.
26:04 We are trying to promote new destination.
26:06 We are providing under our Swadesh Darshan scheme, a connectivity to the various destination
26:13 which are not normally exploited or seen destination which will, you know, divert the traffic from
26:20 the more exploited area to the other areas.
26:23 That is one.
26:24 We are also providing lot of facilities under our another infrastructure scheme called Prasad
26:28 for the pilgrimages.
26:30 In India, sixty percent of the domestic tourism is some kind of a pilgrimage, whether it's
26:35 a temple or a mosque or something.
26:38 So we are providing facilities there so that the, there is a kind of a diversion there.
26:43 So that is one infrastructure development.
26:46 The other one is the creating awareness.
26:48 And the third very important initiative which is quite nascent is we are involving the private
26:53 sector in our and the community in keeping the heritage alive.
26:59 What we call it is a adopt a heritage and I am taking this opportunity to make a kind
27:04 of a noise about it and I would like the industry to participate.
27:09 It's called adopt a heritage, Apni Dharohar Apni Pehchaan, which we are requesting private
27:16 sector to partner with the governments, both the governments, which is the central government
27:22 or the state government or the ASI, in keeping the heritage intact.
27:29 So this is really about cleanliness, about the right kind of signage, right kind of information,
27:35 and which can be done.
27:36 It's a no financial scheme.
27:39 So we are not expecting any money.
27:41 It, we come into an MOU with the private sector and you take care of the, these basic thing
27:48 and out of the CSR or out of the visibility which has come and also out of the quasi-commercial
27:54 transaction which we can come.
27:55 So this is something which we are also working and we had a fair amount of success in that.
28:00 Okay, good.
28:01 I think Arthur you wanted to ask?
28:02 Yeah, just a couple of points.
28:03 When you talk about destinations, when you talk about pilgrimages, I just like to point
28:06 out that you don't need a destination.
28:08 So I have a friend called Jayatilak, who may have, he worked on the God's Own Country campaign
28:13 in the beginning.
28:14 Jayatilak taught me a couple of things when he said, so what you need for tourism, three
28:20 things, clean loose, good signage, competent guides.
28:28 That makes a holiday.
28:30 To develop that a little further, we've got a fantastic guide in Vishnupur, which should
28:35 soon be a World Heritage Site, Jyotindra Das and he starts off with what XOYs did in 1641,
28:41 that's not it.
28:43 When a person comes to this place, they're not really looking for history, they're looking
28:48 for stories.
28:50 So storytelling is a very integral part of tourism and that does not need, you know,
28:57 a monument, it just needs communication and imagination.
29:02 And something else that we will develop, I mean, those who know Bengalis will accept
29:08 that it's very natural, you don't need destination tourism if you can develop food tourism.
29:14 Seriously.
29:15 I mean, the world…
29:18 Absolutely.
29:19 No, but you know, it's a crying shame that what the world considers Indian cuisine is
29:26 not even actually Punjabi cuisine, it's just a bad rip-off.
29:32 And we've… people come on a holiday to relax, to eat, to chill out.
29:39 We can provide that without putting pressure on specific monuments.
29:43 You can spread them out across the entire country.
29:45 You just, as your atithi devo bhava, chill.
29:50 So we will try to develop that model that first feel comfortable and then if you have
29:57 the time and the energy, you go out and look at the monuments.
30:00 Yeah, it's interesting.
30:01 So you're talking about, you know, so I guess both of you, what you're saying is let's
30:05 put less and less pressure on the tourism destinations so that that in itself is acting
30:10 responsibly and that doesn't need really policy as such.
30:14 Mr. Sharma, from a Gujarat perspective, do you… are you sort of thinking of measures
30:19 like this?
30:20 We have very little time, so if you can give me a quick answer on how do we divert, you
30:24 know, the pressure points so that other destinations also develop?
30:29 Basically, we took into consideration this at the initial level.
30:34 When the state was formed, from Bombay state it became Maharashtra and Gujarat, we did
30:41 not develop a single place as such.
30:44 We did develop areas which were well known for architecture, desert, wildlife, temple.
30:52 We only saw that proper infrastructure and proper training is given and we did not develop
31:01 just certain sectors.
31:02 We spread it out, so is our industry also.
31:06 So that helped us that there was no pressures anywhere.
31:09 Okay, okay.
31:11 Rupesh, anything you want to add as last points from your experience on the policy and being…
31:16 how that's being translated?
31:17 Yeah, actually in Kerala now we are trying to implement sustainable and responsible tourism
31:23 activities with the support of tourism industry and local community.
31:27 And at the same time, we are trying to create experiences, not trying to create.
31:33 There are lot of experiences like I think some of you are known about Kerala's famous
31:39 village life experience packages.
31:41 You can experience the todi tapping, the koi making and you can take selfies from the top
31:46 of the coconut tree.
31:47 There are lot of products.
31:49 Wow.
31:50 When I started such initiative, the top level officials was not cooperating with us.
31:57 They afraid that nobody will come to experience it.
32:00 And in a single destination like Kumarakom, we earned 26 lakhs rupees from such initiative
32:08 on 2017.
32:11 That amount is directly given to 40 families.
32:16 That is why we can create more support to the livelihood of the local community, to
32:22 the local community people.
32:25 At the same time, we have lot of cultural activities, lot of festivals.
32:30 Now we are trying to start some accessible tourism activities because we are facing serious
32:37 level challenges from Neha is there, accessible tourism leader.
32:41 We are facing some serious level challenges from neighboring states and some other countries
32:49 in tourism sector.
32:50 So we are trying to create some innovative activities and programs.
32:55 Okay, so that's interesting.
32:57 I guess more importantly from a policy perspective, I guess it's a recognition that a lot of tourism
33:04 has shifted.
33:05 From the earlier tourists who went for sightseeing, we are moving towards tourists who now want
33:12 experiences.
33:13 So lots of shifting as far as the tourism arena is concerned.
33:16 Earlier the tourists didn't care about anything but luxury because tourism was all about luxury.
33:24 It's moving from there to an entire more responsible, aware consumer.
33:28 So this shift is something I guess that policy needs to, or governments need to recognize
33:35 and perhaps start to sort of look at policy from that perspective.
33:39 And this shift, if it's ignored, like people like Megan says, we are going to ignore it
33:43 at our own peril.
33:45 I think time has run up and I don't think we have time for questions.
33:49 Am I right?
33:50 I think people are nodding, saying no time for questions.
33:52 So thank you very much to the panelists for having shared their views and thank you audience
33:59 for being as patient as you've been.
34:02 Thank you.
34:02 [APPLAUSE]