One of the most glaring reasons that the study has brought out is the lacuna in the Government’s policies towards the industry. The Government is the most important player in this industry and all the other players have to follow the lead taken by it. However, the actions of the government have not been proactive. Rather it has been late in rising to the opportunity that the tourism industry offers. There are not enough incentives been offered to the other players like Hotels and the travel agencies. There is no incentives for the hospitality industry to set up shop in area, as is the case with other industries. The government should be taking the lead and attracting the industry to places that have vast tourist potential but have still not fully developed. Incentives like tax holiday or a reduced rate of duties would go a long way in the promotion of the places. Secondly, the various restrictions those are in place in areas like Sikkim and the North-East should be relaxed so that more people can visit those places.
Even when the Government is in charge of maintaining the sites of historical importance, it has been greatly hampered due to resource crunch. The sites that are under the Archaeological Survey of India are in pathetic condition, as the agency does not have enough manpower or the money to look after all of them. This has lead to the gradual decay and destruction of many important sites both by nature as well as because of vandalism. There have been cases where whole temples have been systematically stripped and completely dismantled without the agencies in charge being aware of them.
Poor Infrastructure
The infrastructure has been a major reason why the international tourist has been skipping the country. Delayed or absence of connectivity to different locations, lack of proper accommodation facilities, bad roads and no communication facilities are some of the factors that are stopping people from visiting many places.
Unless the infrastructure is properly developed, a large majority of tourists will give the country a skip. Again this is linked to the above bottleneck. The lack of a Government that is proactive. Unless the government sanctions the infrastructure projects there will be no improvements in the situation. A very recent example that has been in the news is the airport project in Bangalore. Although the proposal has been lying with the government for three years, still now it has not been implemented. There is an acute lack of proper accommodation facilities for the tourist. So more hotels have to be built. Even now there are some places that are not properly connected by even good and navigable roads. These also need to be developed.
Apprehensions about the law and order situations
The lack of security that is faced by a lot of international tourist is also a major cause for concern. There have been many instances where tourist have been physically assaulted, robbed and sexually harassed. Any such incident reflects badly on the country and creates a negative image in the country from which the tourist has come. In the mid nineties, when insurgency was thought to be on a decline in Jammu and Kashmir, five foreign tourists were kidnapped. This lead to a lot of clamor and the State Department of the USA issued a specific warning to its citizens not to visit Jammu and Kashmir. Although the notice was only for J&K still then it affected the total inflow of tourist into the country. Similarly French national/ Japanese National were sexually assaulted in New Delhi and that too had attracted international attention. Apart from these, there are hundreds of other incidents like cheating to murder that tarnish the image of the country. Socio-religious problems (Riots etc) have become a regular affair and the country is not perceived as a peaceful destination. All these concerns have to be seriously looked into by the concerned agencies.
