Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
Spiritual Tourism in India and Gujarat Spiritual Tourism is the largest tourist sector in India: more than 70% of the domestic tourist movement is for the religious purposes and 20% of the revenue in tourism industry is generated by religious tourism (Cox and Kings 2008-09). A study by the Delhi based National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) shows that the largest proportion of trips are religious, accounting for 50 percent, whereas leisure tour packages account for 28 per cent. In Gujarat Ahmadabad, Ambaji, Dwarka and Somnath are the major tourist destinations accounting for over 33% (47.41 lakhs) of the total tourist flow in the state. Tourist Flow at Major Religious Destination in Gujarat (TCGL 2006-07) Source: GITCO Aim to develop of Quality Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat
To create quality tourism infrastructure at pilgrimage destinations in order to enhance the environs of the destination and to strengthen its appeal To develop special interest tourism products such as theme parks, interpretation centers, bird watching, spa and other recreational components. To generate employment and socio-economic benefits by development of capacity building so, tourism growth will act as a catalyst in building entrepreneurship, small business enterprises and economy diversity. To ensure authenticity and original character of the religious site is remained since development pressure due to the fact that unplanned visitor facilities and illegal encroachments are mushrooming in the vicinity of these sites.
Potential for Tourism Growth in Gujarat
November 2010 1 | P a g e
Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
REQUIREMENTS AT GUJARAT SPIRITUAL TOURISM DESTINATIONS Well-defined spaces A well-defined and demarcated entrance plaza. Organised public conveniences and visitor amenities and well-defined vendor courts. Visitor management system at temple for visitor circulation through narrow pathways and encroachments, and to address as overcrowding and unregulated visitor movement. Disaster prevention plans to manage over-crowding and to avoid loss of life that has occurred at stampedes at other religious centres in India. Adequate parking areas Segregated parking spaces for buses, four-wheelers and two-wheelers, to prevent bottlenecks, delays, noise and air pollution etc. General facilities with cleanliness and hygiene Proper toilet facilities and drinking water and organized and hygienic eating places Identified recreation/ public spaces and exhibition spaces and display areas. Vendor stalls conforming to approved standards. Accommodation, especially during festival and auspicious dates. Proper signage system and Interpretation facilities Directional and informative Signage system to orient the visitors efficiently Knowledgeable guides. Heritage interpretation centre and museum. Brochures, guide-maps, literature, information booklets. Awareness and integration of sites so that tourists visit nearby sites Adequate promotional efforts Promotional efforts to create a distinct image and identity as quality destinations. Drawing high spending tourists from major domestic markets. Awareness and education amongst local residents regarding benefits of tourism, skilled manpower and local aspirations.
MAJOR THREATS TO SPIRITUAL TOURISM Loss of authenticity due to encroachment Development pressure due to the fact that unplanned visitor facilities and illegal encroachments are mushrooming in the vicinity of these sites. Encroachment on the walkway disturbs the pedestrian movement. Further, developmental pressure can threaten the authenticity and original character of the religious site. Unregulated visitor behavior Overcrowding and unregulated tourist behavior seriously hampers the visitor circulation at some of the temple precincts. These sites do not have a basic visitor management system in place and lack adequate manpower to regulate the mass of visitors especially on weekends and holidays.
November 2010 2 | P a g e
Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
RECOMMENDATIONS 1. INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Basic facilities to visitors to develop all religious destinations as a domestic crowd pulling segments. Connectivity by providing internal road Destination Utility Infrastructure by providing toilets, waiting shed/pavilion, cafeteria, clean water supply, street furniture for the comfort of tourists as well as local inhabitants. Organized Parking and vehicular movements at temple sites or nearby sites if not possible at temple sites Proper signage to orient the visitors efficiently by augmenting signage system at vantage points of the location. Single window Information and interpretation centre which will provide visitors a synoptic depiction of the area, exhibits on flora and fauna etc. It will also act as a documentation centre for spiritual researchers. Providing landscape spaces with flower beds, lawns, fountains, pathways, seating, lighting etc will improve the environs of the site leading to visitor enjoyment and recreation. Provision of a range of accommodation units such as luxury resorts, budget hotels and camping tents catering to varied customer segments.
Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB) has estimated the following investment potential for some of the key religious destination development projects in the states. Religious Tourism Project Ambaji Area Development Dwaraka Area Development Koteshwar-Narayan Sarovar Area Development Champaner/Pavagadh Development
Investment Potential Rs. 400 Crore Rs. 500 Crore Rs. 500 Crore Rs. 100 Crore
Case Study: Tirupati, the Lord Ventekshwara Temple Tourist Flow: Known all over the world for its religious significance, the destination attracts approximately 18-20 million visitors (domestic and international) per annum. Daily around 40000 to 50000 tourists. Accommodation: Tirupati has accommodation ranging from 5-star hotels to budget guesthouses. To cater high-end religious tourists and NRIs, many hotel groups have set up 3 and 4 star category hotels at Tirupati such as Fortune Hotel promoted by ITC Welcome Group. Other Facilities: Other entertainment facilities include Amusement park and shopping plaza. The amusement park comprises of major mechanical rides such as ferry’s wheel, roller coasters, mini train, children’s play rides, water slides, wave pool, lazy river and a lake for boating etc. Upcoming Developments: The Government is also promoting the initiatives to establish luxury hotels, a religious theme park, a ropeway and shopping malls at Tirupati to provide a host of high quality facilities to visitors.
November 2010 3 | P a g e
Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
2.
ENHANCING THE CORE APPEAL OF THE DESTINATION
Pilgrimage to religious destinations is motivated by the desire to experience the mysticism and the divinity of Gods and Goddesses. We can enhance this experience through Expos and pavilions which will familiarize the visitors with the history of the temples, its importance and its relevance to the present society. Science and Spirituality Pavilion will present meeting points of science and spirituality in an interactive exhibition space, to stimulate an inquiring mind about the profound philosophical subjects on India's source books of wisdom. The entire process of tourism development should revolve around this core appeal and creation of new tourism products need to complement the core attraction of the religious sites.
3. CONSERVATION OF RESOURCES
Prepare comprehensive restoration and conservation plans of heritage sites by involving Archeology department of Gujarat. Apply solid waste treatment plant since lot of solid waste produce from temples.
4. PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION The Tourism Policy of the Government should lay special emphasis on maximum participation of the private sector in making investments in tourism projects. Multi-stakeholder partnership is an important element of promoting tourism. It provides tangible livelihood options to local people such as hotel personnel, guides, porters, watchmen, maintenance workers and other service providers. The local community members are also involved in managing small business enterprises like cafeteria, souvenir shops, travel and transport services, craft shops etc.
Government of Gujarat needs to create “Gujarat Religious Travel Association” (GRTA) in private sector partnership to identify the gaps in religious infrastructure, explore new avenues, to multiply the investments in religious sector, to provide the standard compare to international standard. Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board (GPYVB) has been constituted since more than 10 years but work carried out by it is just not enough. We should create GRTA instead of GPYVB in PPP mode to make it efficient.
Proposed Task for Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Vikas Board No. Task 1 Collect feedback from tour operators to develop facilities at yatradhams. List out the current facilities and further requirements for the visitors. Make strategy based on above research. 2 Obtain detailed report of ongoing/proposed project Identify key priorities Prepare monthly task schedule for contractors Prepare monthly progress report 3 Make strategy to set up quality monitoring mechanism in partnership with service providers for cleanliness and security Create a frame work for identification of skill gaps in service delivery 4 Clearly define roles and responsibility of temple trust, collector and nagarpalika 5 Provide Feedback and assessment of effectiveness
November 2010 4 | P a g e
Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
5. SPECIAL INTEREST TOURISM PRODUCTS Gujarat currently does not figure in the top ten states frequented by foreign tourists in India. To attract foreign tourists to religious destination, we need to propose special interest tourism products such as marine eco-tourism programmes and underwater explorations at Dwaraka, ecological tours and bird watching at Ambaji etc. Tourist and Pilgrim both have a different purpose of visits to these religious destinations. Tourists may not find it worthwhile to come all the way just for a pilgrimage if special interest products are not there. We may create nodes near religious centres, where there is already a basic infrastructure present with such special products and plan day trips from there if it is not possible at religious destination. Theme Park Most of the religious destinations presently lack an organized recreational facility for visitors. In today’s society, people, especially children, are exposed to world class entertainment through animation, multi-million dollar Hollywood productions like the Harry Potter films, internet content, and IMAX films and so on. We have to present Indian classical content also in a manner that matches or exceeds these standards of presentation. The theme park will engage visitors in exploring legends, myths and historical events associated with particular gods. It will also act as entertainment and recreational venue for visitors and local populace to spend quality time with family and friends. These theme parks should present and promote the culture and heritage of India in a compelling manner using state-of-the-art technology in a family edutainment format. The narrative strategy we should use is known as technology assisted multi-sensory immersive and experiential story telling. This is the kind of communication strategy that the world’s best Theme Parks like Disney World, EPCOT and Universal Studios use. THEME PARK PROJECT CASE STUDY: HERITAGE THEME PARK AT BANGALORE A unique project called ‘India Heritage Theme Park’ is being developed by ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness) Bangalore at an estimated cost of Rs. 500 crores. According to the master plan of the project, the park will consists of cave like areas, gardens, thematic settings, miniature replicas, walkways and guest accommodation of various categories and spread across 28 acres of land. The indoor theme park will be built in a single structure of 25 lakh sq. ft with up to 120-metre height. For resource generation of this project, housing shall be developed in vicinity of this proposed theme park. Kids Zone This is a fun way to get children familiar with the various pastimes of Krishna, Rama, Hanuman and other heroes from the Puranas. Thematic games, traditional puppet workshop, story telling sessions, costume shows, animation theatres – and a host of other activities will consume the curiosity of kids in this zone. Marine Eco‐tourism Centre Gujarat has its 1600 km coastline for development of tourism. Dwaraka, Somnath and other religious destination are located on this coastline. We can propose Marine Eco-tourism centre to conduct various activities such as ecological excursions, boat cruises, bird watching trips, viewing dolphins, dugongs and turtles. We can also propose ferry services to connect Okha port and Beyt dwaraka to Kutch mandvi.
November 2010 5 | P a g e
Sustainable Development of Spiritual Tourism in Gujarat Ar. Himanshu Patel, CM Fellow, Gujarat Tourism Department
6. DESTINATION PROMOTION STRATEGY
Create destination awareness through extensive media campaign targeting high-spending tourists both domestic and international. Connect temples with International Institutes worldwide to promote the destinations like connect Dwaraka Temple with Iskon International Organization. Develop linkages of the surrounding destinations around the pilgrimage sites to draw tourists.
Attract branded hotel groups, restaurant chains etc. to create quality facilities. Varanasi, Tirupati and Pushkar are successful examples of leveraging religious tourism in attracting premium hospitality chains such as Taj, Radisson, ITC-Fortune, Lemon Tree and Others. Ginger Hotels plan to construct 100 hotels within the next five years with a large number of properties coming up in religious destinations.
Promote e-marking of the destination through a dedicated website and other travel portals. Develop co-operative marketing partnerships with specialized tour operators and travel agents. Develop high quality promotional material such as brochures, posters, booklets, guide books, CD-ROM etc.
Gujarat Government should celebrate “Gujarat Pavitra Yatradham Mahotsav” at very large scale to promote religious destinations. Government should bring motivating speakers and preachers of spirituality and wellness like Swami Ramdev, Shiv Khera, Deepak Chopra etc. to help in building a brand image of Gujarat as a delight for spiritual tourism seekers. They can accomplish this with their inspirational discourses, seminars, public appearances and other related efforts.
November 2010 6 | P a g e
