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35 historical monuments in India have ‘disappeared’

New Delhi - The government admitted in parliament Thursday that 35 historical monuments, including 12 in the national capital, have disappeared mainly due to rapid urbanisation.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said all the untraceable monuments were centrally protected.

Among the disappeared monuments in New Delhi are: the Alipur cemetery, Bara Khamba cemetery, tomb with three domes near Nizamuddin Railway Station, Nicholson statue and its platform.

The others include the guns of Emperor Sher Shah in Assam, Imambara Amin-ud Daula and three tombs in Lucknow and rock carvings of Hindu gods in Jammu and Kashmir.

‘The major cause of the disappearance of the historical monuments is rapid urbanisation, construction of multi-storeyed residential and commercial buildings and implementation of development projects,’ Soni said.

As a corrective step, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has banned construction and mining activities up to 100 metres from the protected limits of the sites of national importance, the minister added.

An area of another 200 metres beyond this has been declared as a regulated area where the construction activity is allowed with the permission of the ASI.

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If at first you don't succeed, call it v1.0!

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Major Delhi monuments to be illuminated by 2010

New Delhi - Come 2010 and Delhi’s key heritage sites will be illuminated, ready to attract thousands of visitors to enjoy its unparalleled architecture at night too, just in time for the Commonwealth Games.

Minister for Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said Thursday that her ministry in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) plans to illuminate all the key heritage monuments utilising energy efficient technology.

The scheme will be implemented prior to the Commonwealth Games 2010.

‘The project is in the planning stage and tentatively 14-15 key monuments situated on the roadside will be illuminated before 2010,’ A.K. Sinha, ASI’s superintending archaeologist (Delhi), told IANS.

‘They will be prepared as night tourism sites before the mega event. But before setting up any illumination, our experts will thoroughly examine its impact on our monuments. All the lights will be energy efficient and harmless,’ said Sinha.

He also said that Red Fort and the Safdarjung tomb are among the monuments to get the facility by 2010.

Delhi has 172 ASI protected monuments.

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Over 100 historical Delhi monuments to get facelift

New Delhi - The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will landscape over 100 monuments of national importance in the capital in an effort to make them more attractive to tourists.

According to ASI, a majority of the over 160 monuments marked as sites of national importance currently lack proper amenities, putting off visitors.

‘Apart from a few well known heritage sites of Delhi, over 100 sites need proper landscaping and we are soon going to develop gardens the around lesser known sites. Once the beautification work is over, tourists will like to visit these places,’ said A.K. Sinha, superintending archaeologist (Delhi Circle).

‘The ASI will set up special counters to provide information as well as literature about the monuments to visitors. Other facilities like resting places, parking lots, toilets and drinking water will also be made available,’ Sinha, who is in charge of preservation of monuments in Delhi, told IANS.

‘We are also in touch with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Council to give us connecting roads wherever necessary,’ he said.

He did not rule out the possibility of introducing sound and light shows at the monuments. ‘It may be introduced in a couple of years after the landscaping is completed.’

Sinha said 14 ASI-protected monuments in the city including the Purana Qila in central Delhi, Sunehri Mosque near Red Fort, Tughlaqabad Fort and City Wall at Kashmeri Gate had been encroached upon.

‘We have given notices to all those concerned and the final eviction order will be sent this month.’

The official said the tomb of Amir Khusrau in Nizamuddin in south Delhi, tomb of Ghiasuddin Khan and the Adilabad Fort at Tughlaqabad, Rajpur Cemetery (Mutiny cemetery) in north Delhi, Begampuri Mosque in south Delhi, Sunehri Mosque and tomb of Razia Sultan in Shahjahanabad were on the top of the list of monuments to be evacuated.

Sinha said the ASI also had plans to introduce two types of tours for visitors. While the first one would be a one-day tour for tourists, a four- or five-day trip was proposed for researchers and scholars who would be given whatever information they wanted for their work on heritage sites.

‘Both types of tours will be paid ones,’ he said, adding that before a final decision on the tours, the Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation would be taken into confidence.

He also said that the ASI was planning to make entry to 10 more monuments through tickets. However, he did not reveal any names. Currently, there are 10 monuments in the city entry to which is not free.

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Over 300 heritage sites in Delhi have vanished

New Delhi - Delhi’s visual past is getting blurred with over 300 heritage sites having disappeared over the last century.

A survey of historical buildings conducted by a senior officer of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Maulavi Zafar Hasan, between 1913 and 1915 had listed 1,317 heritage sites in the capital. However, sources in the ministry of culture say, many of these structures have been demolished, crumbled or encroached upon.

ASI Authorities said that the capital city had undergone a tremendous change during the last few decades and its shadow could be seen on the dwindling number of heritage sites.

‘Perhaps, for the sake of growth, these monuments were sacrificed. I think they are victims of our present and have succumbed to the pressure of a metropolitan city,’ ASI’s superintending Archaeologist (Delhi Circle) A.K. Sinha told IANS.

‘I think the number could be over 300,’ Sinha added.

He said since the awareness level was very low earlier some people might have demolished these sites without even knowing their importance.

‘But things have changed over the last five years and both civic agencies and media are playing a vital role in creating awareness. Now you can see the difference in the upkeep of the monuments and any negligence can draw you to a court,’ Sinha said.

Of the 175 monuments declared as sites of national importance in Delhi, 12 are missing and encroachments have taken place in 14 protected sites, the ministry sources said.

The missing monuments include Moti Gate of Sher Shah, Alipur cemetery, Nicholson statue- its platform and surrounding garden, Inchala Wali Gumti, Pool Chadar and Bara Khamba cemetery.

Experts in the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), an organisation working for the identification and preservation of heritage sites in the country, feel that more than the government, it is the general public who needs to be more concerned about the situation.

‘People need to be conscious of their history. If they wish to harm a heritage site, it will be difficult for authorities to save it,’ said INTACH convenor O.P. Jain.

He added that that the encroachment and demolition of historical sites was due to a lack of enforcement of heritage conservation laws.

‘It’s not wise to look back in anger. Let us try to keep our existing monuments in a better shape,’ Jain added.

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PROMOTING INDIA AS A `MICE’ DESTINATION HAS TO BE INTEGRATED WITH RICH VIBRANT INDIAN CULTURE

AMBIKA SONI INAUGURATES 4TH CONVENTION OF THE INDIA CONVENTION PROMOTION BUREAU

“The world market in conference and convention tourism is estimated to be around 130 billion US dollars per year, yet India accounts for not even 1 percent share of this huge market,” the Minister of Tourism & Culture, Smt. Ambika Soni remarked while inaugurating the 4th Convention of the India Convention Promotion Bureau (ICPB), here today.

To increase our market share should be the first challenge before us, Smt. Soni said and added that instead of isolated efforts by hoteliers, travel operators and others in the business, the problem will have to be tackled by integrating the whole package with the rich cultural heritage of India so that visitors and delegates go back with a something that is called a `complete experience’.

Smt. Soni recalled that even in the past, as far back as 1980s India has organized some very high level and prestigious international conventions and events like the CHOGM and ASIAD etc. and has proved its competence and capabilities. What is required now is to have an attitude of anticipating things, an awareness of happenings all around, integrate them in planning and presenting convention proposals with room for experiencing the rich vibrant culture of India. This is important as, most often, a foreign visitor coming to India is interested in something more than mere busy and tiring conference schedules. She cited that some of the top most companies like Mackengee, Fortune etc. are planning their conventions in India in the coming years. A big religious conglomeration is likely to take place in Nanded in 2008 where people from all parts of the world are expected to gather. These are the opportunities, which are to be grabbed and integrated into a bigger picture, that is India, she added.

Smt. Soni said that shopping is also something very important that is to be woven into the convention package. Some thought must be given to engage the spouses of the delegates into a visit to nearby rural craftsperson or other similar places so that they have an experience of interacting with our artisans and the artisans themselves have the benefit of the right customer at their doorsteps.

Smt. Soni assured the delegates of full cooperation from the Ministry. She told that she has been discussing the matters with different other concerned Ministries for improving tourist infrastructure and greater facilitation of foreign tourists in terms of visa etc. The Union Railway Minister has assured her for upgrading all the Railway Stations connecting the heritage sites.

Smt. Soni also underlined the need for training people at various levels – even the guides, taxi drivers and others at the operation level. Some of these aspects have also been taken up in the `Incredible India’ campaigns of the Ministry. The next part of the campaign will concentrate on sensitizing people on the importance of maintenance of cleanliness and managing the garbage, particularly around the heritage monuments.

Earlier, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Shri A.K. Mishra said that the Indian Convention Promotion Bureau is the recognized arm of the Ministry of Tourism as a nodal agency for all clearances with regard to holding of conventions etc. from the Government of India. He assured all support of the Ministry to the members of the Bureau.

Shri Rajiv Talwar. Addl. Dir. Gen. (Tourism) who is also the Chairperson of the ICPB said that the Bureau is in unique initiative in private-public partnership. It is the time for the private sector perceive and guide the Government while the Government role is to facilitate and help the Bureau to achieve as much turn over as possible. The Secretary of the ICPB, Shri Rajiv Kohli made a detailed presentation about the world scenario of the MICE tourism and the potential and possibilities in India to tap this huge market.

Earlier, Smt. Soni formally inaugurated the event by a symbolic beating of drums followed by a cultural programme, choreographed by noted theatre director, Shri Bansi Kaul.

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Delhi among top destinations of foreign tourists

New Delhi - Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan were the top five destinations for foreign tourists in 2005, Minister of Tourism and Culture Ambika Soni said Thursday.

For domestic tourists, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Rajasthan were most popular, the minister informed the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

India gets an estimated 3.5 million foreign tourists annually but the number of domestic tourists, including pilgrims, is estimated between 15 and 20 million.

While state governments are primarily responsible for development of tourist destinations, Soni said the tourism ministry is nonetheless providing funds under its infrastructure development plans for selected tourist circuits and destinations.

During the 10th Five Year Plan (2002-07), 904 projects have been approved so far and Rs.14.08 billion has been sanctioned.

Out of the total, 41 projects have been approved for Maharashtra and Rs.596.4 million sanctioned to the state government for implementing them.

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Booming travel and tour industry looks for quality people

A career in the tour and travel industry is not just a much sought after option today, but it also provides you an opportunity (like no other) to travel around the world.

India is no doubt a beautiful place and the unlimited options available for tourists coming here, make India a favourite tourist destination worldwide. The last ten years, India has seen a phenomenal increase in the number of tourists coming in from every perceivable corner of the world. Not suprisingly, the boom in the travel and tourism industry has created a need for quality personnel in the field.

Job openings: According to one estimate, there are around two crore professionals in the tourism industry who are working through direct employment. In the coming years, the industry estimates a further two lakh openings will be generated in this sector alone.

Job profile: The job profiles on offer, include student managers, customer care executives, protocol officers, tourist guides and tour managers. The advent of adventure and the rural tourism had further facilitated a sudden surge in the demand for tourism managers, who are responsible for organizing events such as trekking, swimming, skiing and river rafting, as these activities comprise the heart and soul of adventure tourism and the demand for them is great.

Other verticals to work for within the industry include airlines, travel agencies, tour operating companies, ticketing departments, state tourism department and hotels.

Salary: As a trainee, you begin earning about ten thousand rupees and after some experience you can easily get anything between Rs.20,000 to Rs.30,000.

Govt initiative: The tourism sector, being an organized sector, has received encouragement from the government and this has attributed to the growth of the tourism sector in the last few years. Some of the best examples showcasing the extent of the government initiatives in promoting tourism, include those such as 'Incredible India' and Atithi Devo Bhava campaigns.

Courses on offer: So, if you've decided to pursue a career in the travel and tourism industry, here are some institutes you might consider enrolling into: Institute of Management Studies in Ghaziabad, Kuoni Academy of Travel, Polytechnic for Women in Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Al-Ameen Institute of Management in Bangalore, Devi Ahilya University in Indore and Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi.

Other than these institutes, there are other institutes which offer a course in tourism such as the Trade Wings Institute of Management with branches all over India like Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Secunderabad, Goa, New Delhi and Kolkata.

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Plea to set up Heritage Park at Maharaja Ranjit Singh hill top at Ropar

ROPAR: Punjab Heritage and Education Foundation has demanded that a heritage park be established on the historic hill tops near Ropar headworks where Maharaja Ranjit Singh had hoisted his flag and set up observatory post during his meeting with then Governor General of India Lord William Bentik in 1831.

While addressing a press conference here Saturday the Foundation president Gurbax Singh Shergill said the foundation wanted this park to be unique and magnificent befitting to the status of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the only sovereign king of this part of India, who defeated and checked the invading forces forever and extended the international boundaries of India on Afghanistan, Tibet and China frontier.

He said the site of park could not be as small as proposed by Swaraj Mazda Limited, which had offered so small area that a magnificent park could not be established there.

He said the heritage lovers in Punjab, India and abroad, who were willing to offer sufficient financial help for display of statues of Maharaja Ranjit Singh along with his cabinet members and famous general to make this park a unique site for national and international tourists.

Shergill also urged the Punjab government to complete the process of re-survey the area on hilltop near Ropar headworks and complete the process for issuing the notification for declaring the hill top as historical and protected monument under the Punjab Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Remains and sites Act,1964 with in stipulated period keeping in view the directions issued by Punjab and Haryana High Court last month on the PIL filed by foundation so as to pave the way for establishment of the park.

He said the government could either establish the park on its own or set up a permanent trust comprising the representatives of various concerned groups to manage the park under the overall umbrella of archeology and tourism department Punjab.

He said foundation would organize a heritage awareness convention at Ropar on September 17, where modalities of the process for establishing the national park would be discussed.

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Incredible offices
Ravi Teja Sharma / New Delhi August 31, 2006

TRAVEL: India’s 13 India Tourism Offices across the planet ought to be busier than busy. Are they?

One would imagine that after spending a tidy sum of over Rs 300 crore on an ad campaign to lure visitors of the world to India, the country’s 13 India Tourism Offices (ITOs) across the globe would be up to their neck in work, trying to capitalise on the newfound appreciation for all things incredible.

Well, you can add another point to strain your credulity — three of these ITOs don’t even have top bosses in place.

So admits a Ministry of Tourism (MoT) official. The posts of regional director at two of the most important tourist attracting points for India — New York (which also covers the South America market) and Dubai (this office covers West Asia and Africa) — have been vacant for two years and three months, and one year and four months, respectively. The director’s post at the Amsterdam office too has been empty for the last year and three months.

To MoT insiders, it’s a story all too familiar. The Sydney office went headless for a record four years at a stretch, and was taken charge of only in February this year.

This doesn’t mean that the three ITOs are shut. They’re open. But, run by junior officers, the New York, Dubai and Amsterdam offices have little authority over such decisions as spending money.

For nearly everything, clearance is sought from the ministry in Delhi, a mode of operation that cramps any moves to adapt the effort to local market circumstances.

In an era of focused marketing, this betrays apathy, according to Sunirmol Ghosh, managing director, Indo Asia Tours, who feels that the New York office could do plenty to attract people from South America.

“It gives an impression that the Indian government is not interested — and because of the long gap, the importance of the market is lost,” adds Gour Kanjilal, a former regional director, of the Dubai office.

But what’s the hold up?

You guessed it — paperwork. According to the MoT official, all foreign postings need special clearance from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

And that’s a long-winded process in itself, though the ACC’s own guidelines specify 90 days as a limit within which all MoT posting proposals should be cleared.

It’s a process that some say remains vulnerable to attempts at foisting patronage postings on the ITOs. “The right man should be sent,” says Kanjilal, “and not just IAS deputationists who come from other ministries.” Here too, slashing through the thicket of regulation is not easy.

The MoT official says that according to MoT guidelines for foreign postings, a tourism cadre person with many years of experience in tourism still needs to be in a particular grade for three whole years to be eligible for a foreign posting, while an IAS officer coming on deputation from another ministry (say, of steel or mines) is eligible in just six months.

There’s hope, though. A decision on ensuring that such postings will only be for tourism cadre officers is awaiting validation by the cabinet.

Incredible, is it not?

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Medical tourism on the rise in India
[ 31 Aug, 2006 0104hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

NEW DELHI: With around one million tourists flocking to India for healthcare, a Rs 10,000 crore medical travel value expected by 2010, and a growth of 25% per year, medical tourism is booming like never before.

Union minister for tourism, Ambika Soni said the government is aggressively promoting India as a global healthcare destination to offer a holistic approach to health.

She was speaking at the release of the Incredible India Brochure on Medical Tourism, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Indian Healthcare Federation (IHF) here on Wednesday.

Seeing the huge potential in the sector, the government has also started issuing M (medical) visa to the medical patients, and MX visas to the spouse accompanying him, which are valid for a year.Two lakh medical tourists visited India last year, and the figure will grow by 50% this year.

India is being promoted as a healthcare destination in the ongoing 'Incredible India campaign,' being run by the tourism ministry. Soni said the campaign would promote Indian hospitals abroad as centres offering best medical services. In addition, availing medical services in India costs about a tenth of what it is in US, and one-sixth in UK.

Not only this, the National Accredition Board for Hospitals (NABL), a body set up to ensure safety and hygiene norms for hospitals, has already started the process of granting accredition with 70 hospitals in the process of getting approval, chairman of CII's national committee on healthcare, Dr Naresh Trehan said.

Dr Trehan said India now offers the latest techniques such as robotic surgery, and gamma-knife treatment for brain tumours. The efficacy of treatment compares with that in the West, with the death rate from coronary bypasses at 0.8% compared to 2.35% in the US.

Union health minister A Ramadoss stated the government is considering the Clinical Establishment Bill that would mandate accreditation for hospitals down to the district and village levels.

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Medical tourism can fetch Rs.100 bn annually by 2012

New Delhi, Aug 30 (IANS) Medical tourism has a potential of growing by a whopping 25 percent annually to fetch India Rs.100 billion ($2.15 billion) a year by 2012, Tourism Minister Ambika Soni said Wednesday.




'The sector has a huge potential and looking at the response from foreign patients, we estimate that the country may fetch Rs.100 billion annually by 2012,' said Soni while releasing the 'Incredible India: The Global Healthcare Destination' brochure.

'We have just drawn up a year-long campaign to promote a holistic picture of India. In the medical tourism front all the wings including the Indian form of medicine and naturopathy will be promoted in a strategic way.

'In order to promote Brand India, we are partnering in the International Tourism in Berlin 2007, the leading tourism trade fair,' the minister said at a meet organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the government was considering a bill that to provide for accreditation of all hospitals down to the district level.

'Besides, we are working on a quality control body, like the Joint Commission International of the US, to provide quality hospitals to every one,' the minister said.

He said only two to three percent Indians have any form of health insurance. 'We hope there will be a massive surge in medical insurance in the next five years,' he said.

Ramadoss said the government had launched a Rs.1.25 billion project for scientific validation of traditional healthcare systems of ayurveda, homoeopathy, unani and siddha.

'The aim is to integrate these systems with the allopathic systems of medicine and thereby increase their acceptance.'

The chairman of CII's National Committee on Healthcare, Naresh Trehan, said India was being recognised as a quality destination for medical value travel.

'There are 50 million people in the US without medical insurance and for them domestic treatment costs are prohibitive. Their treatment in India is now facilitated by tie-ups between the insurance companies in the US and private Indian hospital chains,' said the leading cardiologist.

Copyright Indo-Asian News Service

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India goes for No. 1 in medical tourism

NEW DELHI, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- India's private and public hospitals should work to make India the world's premier medical tourism destination, the tourism and culture minister said Wednesday.

To do so, the nation's health sector will need to project an air of credibility through transparency and accountability, Minister Ambika Soni said at a gathering announcing the government's newest medical tourism promotion efforts.

The push for greater medical tourism can build on the already strong performance of India's health and tourism sectors, she said.

The health sector is now the largest service sector in the country, contributing 6.2 percent of gross domestic product, a figure that is projected to grow to 8 percent -- and employ 9 million people -- by 2012.

The tourism industry is growing at nearly 9 percent per year and is expected to generate $5 billion in revenue this year.

Health workers can also contribute, Soni said, by striving to provide customer service that will leave medical tourists feeling spiritually and physically rejuvenated.

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India's healthy appeal
By Amelia Gentleman International Herald Tribune
Published: August 30, 2006

NEW DELHI The Indian government on Wednesday began an aggressive marketing campaign to promote itself as a medical tourism destination, hopeful that the expanding industry could be worth $2 billion by 2012.

Eager to attract some of the 50 million patients from the United States who are not covered by health insurance and millions more in Western Europe who face long waiting lists for treatment, India's Health Ministry joined with its Tourism Ministry to produce an international advertising campaign explaining the possibilities of Indian health care.

Officials said part of India's appeal rests with its "holistic" approach to medicine, and campaign photographs

India will have to work hard to alter perceptions of it as a place of chaos and disease.

showed women performing yoga exercises on the beach and lying in baths filled with rose petals. Patients would also be able combine treatment with trips to the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas, a brochure suggested.

But the main selling point was the low price offered by Indian hospitals. Promotional material claimed that while bone marrow surgery costs $250,000 in the United States, it is available for around $26,000 in India.

"We are going to aggressively promote the fact that India is second to none in terms of its doctors," the tourism minister, Ambika Soni, said in Delhi. "You get treated by the best doctors, you check into the best hospitals and you save yourselves four-fifths of the cost of treatment in the U.S."

India is not alone in trying to promote itself as a medical tourism destination; countries across Eastern Europe have been profiting from Western patients for the past decade, while the Tourism Authority of Thailand promotes medical tourism on its Web site.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a large number of patients from the Middle East had started coming to India instead of the United States, said the health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss. That has pushed the total number of foreigners seeking treatment in India to around 150,000 annually, he said.

The medical tourism market is estimated to be worth around $333 million now, but officials hope that the new campaign will help increase this to $2 billion by 2012.

Within the health care sector, however, there is a realization that this will remain an optimistic aspiration until India transforms its infrastructure. Although there are a growing number of private hospitals with good facilities and staff, the standard of care across the health service remains very unpredictable.

The Tourism Ministry also will have to work hard to alter widespread Western perceptions of India as a place of chaos and disease. Aware that people traveling to India for the first time are often shocked by the state of the airports, the disrepair of the roads and the poverty instantly visible through the taxi window, officials said that they were working on a strategy of "hand-holding" patients on arrival, to minimize stress.

The Indian government's determination to promote medical tourism (or, its preferred description, "medical value travel") remains controversial. Last year a group of senior Indian doctors warned that Indian nationals, already struggling to receive treatment in underfunded and badly-maintained state hospitals, would suffer further if medical staff were increasingly providing care to foreigners.

But Naresh Trehan, a heart surgeon who is spearheading the promotional campaign, argued that there was a trickle-down effect from the revenue brought into the health system by money from abroad.


NEW DELHI The Indian government on Wednesday began an aggressive marketing campaign to promote itself as a medical tourism destination, hopeful that the expanding industry could be worth $2 billion by 2012.

Eager to attract some of the 50 million patients from the United States who are not covered by health insurance and millions more in Western Europe who face long waiting lists for treatment, India's Health Ministry joined with its Tourism Ministry to produce an international advertising campaign explaining the possibilities of Indian health care.

Officials said part of India's appeal rests with its "holistic" approach to medicine, and campaign photographs

India will have to work hard to alter perceptions of it as a place of chaos and disease.

showed women performing yoga exercises on the beach and lying in baths filled with rose petals. Patients would also be able combine treatment with trips to the Taj Mahal and the Himalayas, a brochure suggested.

But the main selling point was the low price offered by Indian hospitals. Promotional material claimed that while bone marrow surgery costs $250,000 in the United States, it is available for around $26,000 in India.

"We are going to aggressively promote the fact that India is second to none in terms of its doctors," the tourism minister, Ambika Soni, said in Delhi. "You get treated by the best doctors, you check into the best hospitals and you save yourselves four-fifths of the cost of treatment in the U.S."

India is not alone in trying to promote itself as a medical tourism destination; countries across Eastern Europe have been profiting from Western patients for the past decade, while the Tourism Authority of Thailand promotes medical tourism on its Web site.

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, a large number of patients from the Middle East had started coming to India instead of the United States, said the health minister, Anbumani Ramadoss. That has pushed the total number of foreigners seeking treatment in India to around 150,000 annually, he said.

The medical tourism market is estimated to be worth around $333 million now, but officials hope that the new campaign will help increase this to $2 billion by 2012.

Within the health care sector, however, there is a realization that this will remain an optimistic aspiration until India transforms its infrastructure. Although there are a growing number of private hospitals with good facilities and staff, the standard of care across the health service remains very unpredictable.

The Tourism Ministry also will have to work hard to alter widespread Western perceptions of India as a place of chaos and disease. Aware that people traveling to India for the first time are often shocked by the state of the airports, the disrepair of the roads and the poverty instantly visible through the taxi window, officials said that they were working on a strategy of "hand-holding" patients on arrival, to minimize stress.

The Indian government's determination to promote medical tourism (or, its preferred description, "medical value travel") remains controversial. Last year a group of senior Indian doctors warned that Indian nationals, already struggling to receive treatment in underfunded and badly-maintained state hospitals, would suffer further if medical staff were increasingly providing care to foreigners.

But Naresh Trehan, a heart surgeon who is spearheading the promotional campaign, argued that there was a trickle-down effect from the revenue brought into the health system by money from abroad.

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Kingfisher ties up with northeast tourism body

Indo-Asian News Service
Kolkata, August 30, 2006

Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday inked a deal with North East Tourism Development Corporation (NETDC) to promote the region as the preferred tourism destination to holiday-goers across the country.

"As part of the deal we will create awareness about tourism destinations in the northeast. We will offer special packages on board for our flights," said Pankaj Sharma, senior manager (activation) of Kingfisher Airlines.

"Special packages will be offered to flights from Kolkata to Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Agartala," Sharma said.

"Connecting tourist destinations across India is part of Kingfisher Airlines' aggressive growth plans," Vijay Mallaya, chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines, said in a statement.

"We plan to expand rapidly and the northeast is an important market for us. The recognition as the preferred airline partner for NETDC will help us promote the northeast to millions of Indians," Mallaya said.

The partnership was facilitated by premier industry chamber Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) at its tourism promotion seminar Tourism@Resurgent East in Kolkata.

Assam Governor Lt Gen (retired) Ajai Singh said, on the occasion, that the northeastern states have immense potential to be a global tourist destination.

Singh, also the North East Council (NEC) chairman, said tourism could act as a catalyst for economic development of the northeastern states.

"Efforts are on to project the northeastern states in an integrated manner to attract tourists," he said.

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Tourists to Orissa take a 'circuitous' route
Wednesday August 30 2006 12:05 IST

BHUBANESWAR: If Civil Aviation Ministry has been indifferent, the Orissa Government is plain complacent.

How can it just sit pretty and not react even after being wronged yet again. In a significant move, the Indian Airlines has decided to reinstate flight on Delhi-Varanasi-Khajuraho route but has once again ignored Orissa’s long-standing demand to reconnect Varanasi with Bhubaneswar.

Flights on this sector would start operating from September 15 but the State Government is blissfully unaware that its tourism interest has been consigned to dustbin both by the carrier and the Ministry.

In mid-1990s, when Orissa was receiving foreign tourists numbering well over 35,000, I-A dealt a body blow to the State by withdrawing its most important flight on the Delhi-Varanasi-Bhubaneswar route.

The inflow soon dried up. It has taken Orissa a good one decade to achieve the former position (in 2005, foreign tourist inflow stood at 33,310) but its share in total foreign tourist arrival to India is witnessing a gradual slump – from 0.96 percent in 2002 to 0.85 percent in 2005.

‘‘Orissa would have gained immensely had Bhubaneswar been connected to this route once again,’’ rued J K Mohanty, Chairman, Orissa Hotels and Restaurants’ Association. For I-A has not only decided to reinstate flight operation on the Delhi-Varanasi-Khajuraho route, it has gone on to connect Kathmandu to this circuit.

Since Delhi-Varanasi-Bhubaneswar is the culture circuit, Orissa gained then. With the latest decision of the carrier, any hope of regaining that advantage is almost gone, thanks to a non-responsive Ministry and an indifferent State Administration.

The reasons are not far to seek, as the route will take the foreign tourists further away from the State. Currently, a foreign tourist spends close to Rs 1,944 a day and 12.7 days in Orissa. But the number of high-spending tourists who travel by air continues to fluctuate due to erratic air connectivity to Orissa.

‘‘A tourist willing to visit Orissa from the culture circuit will have to dig deep into the pocket and waste more time on travelling which is quite unlikely,’’ explains a senior official of the Tourism Department. Will this shake the Orissa Government out of its slumber?