What Ails UP Tourism?

Amitabh Kant, the man credited with Incredible India campaign has remained associated with the Tourism industry for at least a decade. His long association and consequent experience that he gained within the Tourism Industry has enabled him to come out with such an incredible campaign as Incredible India.
Likewise, Ashwini Lohani, presently associated with Madhya Pradesh Tourism, has served at least three departments related with the tourism industry from 1997 onwards. This included a long association with MP Tourism and another assignment with the Railways' Tourism Board. No wonder, when he attends the tourism events, he appears to be talking logic.
Tourism developments in several states like Kerala have become nearly synonymous with bureaucrats who headed the departments for a long time and guided the state to develop its infrastructure and tourism potential.
In a country where the governments and portfolios of ministers keep changing, it is essential that there are officers who are given a longer stay, so that they are able to understand the dynamics and the tourism potential of the State, develop the required infrastructure and chalk out a focused plan for the development of tourism.
UP's situation is altogether different! A State that earns a good amount due to tourism, courtesy Shahjahan and Buddha, has not done much to further develop the immense potential that it has in the form of tourism products. The Tourism Department has seen 13 Managing Directors since the beginning of this Millennium 7 years ago. And nobody knows when another MD succumbs to the whims of their political bosses.
Having so many bureaucrats heading the ministry in such a short time has created a situation where even the bureaucrats are unable to understand the industry and by the time they start grasping things, they get transferred and the new incumbent has to again depend on the babus to guide him. As a direct fallout of this lopsided approach there has been no upsurge in the number of tourists in UP and had it not been for the Taj and few Buddhist sites, which are visited in spite of whatever hardships a tourism may suffer, a very small percentage of tourists go to other places. Even at these places, there has not been any worthwhile attempt to further develop the existing infrastructure since a few years now.
Sample this! UP Government is planning to celebrate 150 years of India's First War of Independence with great fanfare. It has already been announced that all the 30-odd districts that had a role to play in the War of Independence will be developed. All the planning has been done without realizing that there will not be too many people, other than those who go to attend State organized programs on state sponsored trips, who would be willing to go to these rural districts, with nothing to offer for the sake of tourism, other than certain historical associations. Meerut perhaps is the biggest of all such cities that had a connection with First War of Independence. However, it is certain that there will not be too many takers for a tourist vacation to a place with no worthwhile place of entertainment or tourist interest and only because Mangal Pandey worked in a cantonment there.
As part of the celebrations statues of leaders of 1857 War will be erected at all these places. But nobody explains how a few more statues at segregated places with nothing else to offer would boost tourism.
It is clearly the case of misguided approach and misdirected money. And the chief reason is that those who are responsible for results themselves do not know where their priorities ought to be. Consequently, all events are organized keeping the short-term benefits like political gains and publicity in mind, irrespective of whether such policies would create any impact.
Consequently, a bureaucrat decides to convert all the motels in small towns into clubs. Another thinks of 'boosting tourism' through certain haphazardly arrange musical evenings near Taj. One decides that rural tourism is the fad these days and directs the funds in that direction. Another go on announce that the Kund in Mathura where Yashoda used to wash clothes of Krishna would be filled with water once again. Six months later when this bureaucrat is no longer at the helm of affairs, another comes with an altogether different set of priorities.
Not to be left behind, the Tourism Minister or the CM, when they are invited to Tourism Conventions make few catchy announcements keeping their political turf in mind. And due to all this, UP continues not to have a proper destination for wildlife tourism after Corbett went to Uttaranchal. The road between two of the biggest cities in UP – Kanpur and Lucknow – continues to be made for the last 10 years (and is still unfinished yet), while fresh announcements continue to be made by bureaucrat after bureaucrat, minister after minister, CM after CM.

Box
Managing Directors in this Millennium
Ravindra Singh (from beginning of Millennium till 2nd February, 2000)
DD Verma (from 3rd February, 2000 till 13th September, 2001)
Karnail Singh (from 22nd September, 2001 till 20th August, 2002)
Anuj Kumar Bishnoi (from 3rd September, 2002 till 3rd January, 2003)
Rohit Nandan (4th January, 2003 till 24th January, 2003)
Mukul Singhal (25th January, 2003 till 12th October, 2003)
Neeraj Gupta (13th October 2003 till 13th July, 2004)
Zohra Chatterjee (20th July, 2004 till 12th December, 2004)
Rita Sinha (13th December, 2004 till 7th March, 2005)
Parth Sarthi Sen Sharma (8th March, 2005 till 25th May, 2005)
Aradhana Shukla (18th June, 2005 till 18th September, 2005)
Rita Sinha (19th September 2005 till 2nd March, 2006)
Dr. Om Prakash (3rd March, 2006 till present)