CHANDIGARH, July 9: Chandigarh, "The City Beautiful", does not seem to appeal much as a tourism destination, since the number of tourists has not been encouraging over the past few years.Figures collected by the Chandigarh Industrial and Tourism Development Corporation (CITCO) indicate that the tourist traffic to the City registered a growth of five per cent in 1995, and only four per cent in both 1996 and 1997. For instance, the tourist traffic, which stood at 4.3 lakh in 1996, rose to merely 4.5 lakh in 1997.Those in the tourism industry are not pleased either. "There should be a minimum increase of 10 per cent in the tourism industry each year - that would be normal growth," says Manmohan Singh, member of the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Northern India.But, why should any tourist opt for Chandigarh at all? It does not have the lush environs of Darjeeling, the open beaches of Goa or the snow-clad mountains of Manali. What it does have is the Rock Garden and its unique architecture and its potential as a gateway to the picturesque Himachal Pradesh and also Jammu and Kashmir.Both government officials and private operators agree that the local tourism industry could have immensely gained by cashing in on these strongpoints. Figures collected by CITCO indicate that 98 per cent of the tourist flow here was domestic and only two per cent foreign. Despite this, the Administration seems to have done little at the national level to build up Chandigarh as an attractive transit point in itself."So, most tourists take the Shatabdi from Delhi to Kalka and go on straight to Himachal. More tourism-generated revenue could have come to Chandigarh if the right efforts were made in this regard," asserts Manmohan.Tourist traffic to the City came down during the days of terrorism and the rise thereafter, say private hoteliers, has been purely incidental, with the local corporate sector, the PGI and institutions like the CII organising conventions from time to time.At a national-level conference of hoteliers in 1994, top tourism officials talked of measures to revive the tourism industry both at the local and regional levels. Inter-state packages for both summer and winter season and coordination among neighbouring states were discussed. This, however, remained confined to official files.Kawal Bedi, owner of a travel agency and former president of the Travel Agents' Association of Chandigarh, blames the poor tourist traffic on the lack of efforts by the Administration. "Chandigarh lacks a regular airline service, adequate hotel accommodation and the required thrust to make the tourism industry thrive," she says.According to a projection of the UT Tourism Department, about 1,630 hotel rooms would be required in the city by 2001. The present availability is nearly 700 rooms; these include rooms of different denominations ranging from one-star to four-star. At present, there is no five-star hotel in the City.CITCO chairperson Meenakshi Datta Ghosh admits that Chandigarh registered low tourism traffic in the past few years. "This is because despite the end of terrorism, the new profile of the City and the region has not been advertised adequately."In the past few months, CITCO worked on strategies to revive the tourism industry. These were articulated in the presentation made by its chairperson before the UT Administrator in the first week of June.CITCO favours that 1999 should be declared the "Visit Chandigarh Tourism Year" to boost the local industry. Ghosh says in this regard, CITCO intends to bring out a comprehensive atlas-cum-tourist guide on Chandigarh, revamp the existing tourist information centres, open Northern India Tourism Information Centres at strategic locations and organise quality day-tours to neighbouring states and within the City.Officials say that earlier, the CITCO tours were marred by obsolete coaches and taxis, absence of trained tourist guides, no marketing strategy and rigid responses to fluctuations in demand. The Corporation also intends to interact with travel and tour operators with a view to enhance the image of Chandigarh as a tourist destination.Nevertheless, many in the tourism industry remain cynical. Umesh Kapoor, owner of a local travel agency, says the Administration does not give licence to private operators to run tourist buses and offer attractive travel packages in and around the City. "The Administration has monopolised the tourist business," he regrets. Manmohan Singh emphasises that there should be a combined forum of the Administration and private sector to market Chandigarh and its tourism potential. "This forum can attend trade fairs in other states ," he says.
