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FICCI meet to focus on rural tourism

Our Bureau

NEW DELHI, Sept. 1

THE Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising an international conference and exhibition on rural tourism in the country at Udaipur from September 8 to 12.

Dr Amit Mitra, Secretary, FICCI, told newspersons that the Golden Triangle has already been over sold and does not promise significant increase in tourism flows from domestic or foreign sector.

``The concept of rural tourism, widely prevalent in the West, has now been successfully tried in countries such as China, Indonesia and Hungary. Hence, it is timely to focus our attention in promoting this novel facet of the tourism sector in India,'' he said.

Alongside the conference, FICCI is also organising a Rural Mela -- Chirmi at Shilpgram, Udaipur where artisans and craftsmen from different States will display their crafts. Almost 13 States have confirmed their participation, he said.

``Chirmi'' has been adopted as a logo for this conference. Chirmi is a song sung by women in rural areas of Rajasthan. Such songs compare the virtues of a woman with the goodness of the Chirmi seed, he said.

On why FICCI is promoting ``tourism'' as an economic activity for rural areas, he said the tourism industry had a long value chain covering a host of service providers.

FICCI has also commissioned a study by A.F. Ferguson & Company to identify the potential of rural tourism and form practical strategies which can be initiated and implemented for developing and promoting this concept.

According to the study, this concept has a multiplier effect: a very high revenue and capital ratio. In the Indian context, it is estimated that every million additional visitor could translate into Rs 4,300 crore of revenue for the industry.

Further, the industry offers high employment and investment ratio: every additional investment of Rs 1 million has the potential to generate 47.5 jobs. Every direct job created leads to creation of 77 indirect jobs.

Outlining the factors that propel the trend towards rural tourism, Dr Mitra said that stresses of urban lifestyles, growing interest in heritage and culture, improved means of transport and communication, environmental consciousness and appreciation of n ature and natural products and growing interest in identifying one's roots are some of the reasons.

In developed countries, this has resulted in the concept of forming non-urban or village settings to experience and live a relaxed and healthy lifestyle.

The concept is very popular in places such as Finland, Hungary, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Greece. In Indian context, rural tourism is defined as any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, either real or recreated and that which involves rural folks at such locations thereby benefiting the local community, economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and locals.

Conceptualising effective rural tourism initiative will require pooling the skills and resources of several agencies which need to closely interact on establishing the framework for managing the initiatives. The essence of rural tourism lies in the activ e involvement of locals and local bodies.

The event is being organised in association with the Udaipur Chamber of Commerce and Industry with support from the Union Ministries of Tourism and Culture and Rural Development, Tourism Department of Rajasthan and West Zone Culture Centre, Udaipur.