Getting The Message Across

Capital View

Rabindra Seth

There has been a change of guard at CII’s national committee on tourism and heritage. Maharaja Gaj Singh, who guided the committee’s work to secure a better deal for the sector through a period of turmoil in the wake of 9/11 and the Afghan and Iraq wars as well as an encouraging recovery, has handed the baton to another veteran, Habib Rehman, now executive director ITC Ltd who until recently was also managing director of ITC Hotels. The soldier-turned-hotelier Rehman, it will be recalled, had added a new dimension to the role of chamber committees when, as head of ASSOCHAM’s tourism body, he had produced an effective audio-visual titled AIM, acronym for Awareness, Infrastructure and Marketing. During his two year tenure the a/v was seen by representatives of the industry, central and state governments, Parliamentarians and legislators, drawing attention to the three crucial areas of tourism that needed to be addressed.

It is not at all surprising that at the helm of the CII committee (his co-chairman is Ranjit Malkani of Kuoni Group) Rehman should think of a similar communications programme. Of course he has had to take into account the many changes that have taken place in the level of awareness as reflected in the greater recognition of tourism’s potential for development, especially in employment. The initiatives put in place by the previous government and the assurance given by the new one through the President’s address to Parliament, seem to have influenced Rehman’s concept of the new audio-visual. He is obviously concerned that high hotel occupancies and the acute shortage of air seats should not lead to a sense of complacency to an extent that we lose sight of the big picture. And that is the country’s pitiable share of the world market and the embarrassing inadequacy of infrastructure as well as its quality. Our international airports are a stark example of this. In short his attempt is to revive the determination, both of government and the industry to work for a faster rate of growth.

Rehman has chosen a novel format for his a/v for CII which he presented to the first meeting of the committee on July 10 and two days later to CII’s national council. The phrase Incredible India (the much applauded promotional campaign being run by the department of tourism (DoT)) has been taken and an acronym created in which each letter represented either an area of concern or a call for action. For instance ‘I for India, incredibly left behind’ has a telling impact on viewers when they are told that the country has further slided down to the 53rd position from its not so great earlier place at 46. ‘N for next...What next? We need to stop analysing, debating suggesting; it’s time for action. Now’. ‘R for Regional Tourism. In the Americas, Europe and the ASEAN countries, 70 per cent of the tourism movement is within their own regions. In our case, it is only 30 per cent. We must reach out to the SAARC countries, southeast and central Asia. We are, after all, the aspiring leader in the region’.

In addition, the economic benefits of tourism revenues are reiterated with a subtle illustration of how these can finance the creation of water supply and primary education in the rural areas. The importance of promoting domestic tourism also comes in for special mention. A model is suggested showing how the central government, the state governments and the private sector can synergise their efforts to build infrastructure and remove obstacles in the path of developing tourism.

After receiving appreciation and support for his effort, Rehman now plans to set up groups from among the committee members who will take up specific issues, gather data, formulate recommendations and present them to the decision makers. The a/v will of course be shown to all segments of the industry, central government leaders including the prime minister and the finance minister as well as parliamentary bodies and government leaders and legislators in the states. Rehman has indicated that if need be more a/v would be put together on specific issues and for specific audiences.

In the discussions during the first meeting of the CII committee concern was expressed at the slow growth of tourist traffic from China. The consensus was that India must persist with its efforts because of the size of that market and invest money in educating the Chinese about what India has on offer. Another issue that came up was CII’s 5th International Conference cum Showcase India Tourism and Heritage - Challenge 21 to be held in Jaipur from November 17-19 where South Africa will be a partner country. Members felt that CII must ensure that the South Africans bring with them a large number of tour operators so India inbound could be promoted.