Incredible !ndia

India has been ranked 5th among the world’s tourists’ hot spots and also the fastest growing tourism, 8.8% annually by World Travel and Tourism Council. WTTC also projected India as one of the, emerging tourism markets having potential of $ 24 billion annual foreign exchange earnings through tourism by 2015.

The year started with the launching of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ on January 19th, a social awareness campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourists the sense of being welcomed by, and to the country. The components of the campaign are orientation and training to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police and other personnel directly interacting with the tourists. Delhi, Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Agra and Augrangabad were covered in first phase. 26,000 service providers were given training in these cities. After successful completion of first phase, second phase of the campaign launched in November, 2005 with the target of training and sensitizing 75,000 personnel by the end of next year under the campaign.

Truly, an amazing effort from the Tourism department to mobilize mindsets to give a new face lift to the Indian Tourism industry. Sadly, though they have still a long way to go. And, if one would like to reason why? Here, is an answer to that:

This is what is being charged as the entry fee to a historic monument from the "God-like" foreign tourists. Why this distinction is being made? And what is the logic of this distinction......origin, religion, caste, creed? And should this distinction be applied to those who have transcend international boundaries, just to know what makes India incredible? And, whats that extra thing that a foreign tourist get to see...which an Indian doesn't:

What makes me really surprised, is the fact that the same is being charged at the venue of one of the Other 7 Wonders of the World....and yes you guessed it right...... "The Taj Mahal".

There are more things internal to our mindset which needs to be changed to make "India" truely an "Incredible India", a home is made by the people who live in it.