2021 will be the year of Dekho Apna Desh, says Tourism Minister Prahlad Singh Patel

Taking the present crisis as an opportunity, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Tourism & Culture Prahlad Singh Patel feels 2021 will be a turnaround year to promote its “Dekho Apna Desh” initiative. In an interview with ET, the MP from Damoh constituency in Madhya Pradesh feels the ministry’s aim right now is to instil confidence among travellers rather than increasing footfall. Excerpts:Tourism industry has been one of the worst hit sectors economically due to the ban on movement of people in the wake of Covid-19. It accounts for 9% of the GDP, 8% of employment and is the backbone of many state economies. How does the government plan to make up for the revenue losses?No sector can restart and get back to business without trust. It’s difficult to ascertain the losses right now. At the same time we believe when one door closes another opens. We have seen a huge success in our webinars to promote India as an inclusive travel destination. For the immediate relief of industry players and states, the Centre has already announced an economic package that covers tourism. We have opened our monuments and historical sites. Now hotels are being reopened gradually. At the same time we will have to think of the safety of tourists and start at a slow pace that can ensure their safety.How do you think the PM’s Dekho Apna Desh call – in which he had asked all Indian to take a pledge to visit 15 Indian destinations by 2022 -- panning out in a post-Covid world?Dekho Apna Desh is our mission for 2021-22. Till this Corona situation gets controlled, we will prepare our monuments and world heritage sites. The PM had asked every Indian to visit 15 destinations in three years which right now may appear difficult. But look at the figures. Foreign tourist arrivals stand at 1.8 crore annually while Indians travelling abroad tot up to more than 2 crore. If the latter becomes part of Dekho Apna Desh, we can make up for the losses from foreign tourists in the wake of international travel disruptions. We will dedicate 2021-22 to desh ka tourism for which we have enough time to prepare. We can meet our target by instilling confidence that we are ready and we are safe. This is our ray of hope.Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Goa have eased their tourism norms but states from the Northeast that are major tourist destinations still have strict guidelines for quarantine, hotel booking, e-passes and Covid testing after arrival. There is no uniformity of travel rules among most states posing a problem for movement and planning long-distance travel. How does the government plan to streamline this?From our side, we have eased the norms and opened the monuments. At the same time, we can’t universalise the rules at this point. We can facilitate the reopening but can’t dictate our terms to states. If some states or districts want to close the monuments for a few days keeping in view their Covid situation, we will respect that. Our aim is not to increase the footfall but to instil confidence among tourists that we are getting ready slowly but surely.I agree that lack of uniformity of rules is a huge problem for those planning tour programmes. We have asked our tourism secretary to speak to the state secretaries to find a solution.

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