Mr. Atul Kumar, ADG (Security) Uttar Pradesh, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Agra along with Senior Officers and Members of Standing Committee of Security of Taj Mahal visited and inspected the entire Taj Mahal Complex including the security equipments installed recently.
They were satisfied with the security arrangements at Taj Mahal.
According to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), responsible for the Taj Mahal Security, there is no security threat to Taj.
All CCTV Cameras installed in 2005 at East, West, South and Main Gate of Taj Mahal are intact and working properly as on date.
Cameras are kept in the store as spares also.
In connection with the implementation of programme of Acquisition of Private Papers of eminent Indian Nationals, who have played a significant role in the history of India, National Archives of India (NAI) acquired Private papers of Mr. Amar Kumar Jhingan, a literary figure of Hindi literature.
At a function in the Indian capital, the private papers were handed over to DG, National Archives of India Mr Luv Verma by Mr Jhingan himself.
Since he was born at Kolkata on September 23, 1934, Mr Jhingan is greatly related to Bangiyha Hindi Parished.
His papers consists of Pandulipi/ Tarpatra (in Tamil of 15th or 16th Century); Sar Sudha Nidhi - a weekly Newspapers published from Kolkata, from 1882-1887 (in Hindi 5 vols.); Stray Magazines/ Periodicals/ Booklets & papers etc. of historical & research value including some copies of Abhudaya, Milap published from Lahore, Hindi Samachar Patra Suchi (1826-1925), Photographs of Old literary figures, Late Acharya Govind Narain Ji Misra and his relating thoughts, Govind Nivandawali, Rashtrabhasha Sandesh - Hindi Sahitya Ka Mukhpatra, file containing his correspondence with eminent political personalities.
The collection is of historical importance and valuable and would be used by the research scholars visiting this Department from India and abroad.
While Goa may be spending exorbitant amounts on various mechanisms to promote tourism far and wide, it seems to have lost sight of its very own ambassadors promoting Goa in the State as tourist guides.
Data shows that while most other divisions of the tourism industry are pampered time and again, tourist guides, who play a key role in publicising Goa via tete-a-tetes with tourists have never been recognised by the Government, virtually shelving what could be a lucrative and bright profession in a tourist State like Goa.
The concept of tourist guides that has caught on well in other parts of the country is hardly promoted and nobody seems enthused to be a part of it.
In the last two-and-half decades, Goa has just about 65 tourist guides on its registers. The last registration was done two years ago by the Tourism Department, which now no longer conducts courses, ever since the Government of India’s Tourism Centre has taken on the task.
The Tourism Ministry is not even aware of how many people are actively engaged as tourist guides.
According to F X Fernandes the chief of the Goa Tourist Guides Association, “there are just around 15 full-time tourist guides,” he said adding “many prefer to be either part-timers or freelancers”.
Fernandes who is one of the longest serving tourist guide in Goa regrets that in the rat race for white collared jobs, not many Goans are taking to the profession. In fact some of the top brass in the State administration,police and Tourism Department were once tourist guides, he reveals.
Describing it as an equally noble profession, Fernandes believes that there is not enough encouragement or promotion of this profession either by the Government or other quarters.
It is sad to note that many who are engaged in this line have to rely on travel agencies, tour operators and personal contacts to fend for themselves, he inferred.
Bento Rodrigues another long serving and successful tourist guide said, “The journey to success was a long and patient one for me.” Today, Rodrigues and Fernandes guide some of the top VIP foreign visitors to Goa.
They firmly believe that those with a charismatic personality coupled with patience and perseverance, knowledge of history of the place, a love for travel and sense of humour can succeed in this profession.
Presently there appears to be a shortage of multi-linguistic tourist guides. This is especially so to cater to Russian and Japanese tourists.
Fernandes held the view that the tourism ministry whether, State or Centre should now lay emphasis on the compulsory learning of foreign languages for tourist guides in addition to recognizing the profession and encouraging youngsters to join.
The chief of the Tourist Guides Association also felt that the tourism ministry should also include a representative of this association when taking major policy decisions, as tourist guides know the ground realities as much as, sometimes even more than any other wing in the industry.
Presently, regular courses for tourist guides are conducted once in two or three years or as and when the need arises by the Government of India, Tourism Ministry whose headquarters are in Panjim.
Dr Pattanayak Assistant Director India Tourism - Goa disclosed that the Ministry of Tourism Government of India also has 49 tourist guides registered with the Goa unit.
The government is considering visa-on-arrival facility to citizens of Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Maldives and the Philippines. The facility would be offered on a reciprocal basis, ensuring that Indian citizens also get a similar benefit in these countries. At a recent meeting between intelligence agencies, and the tourism home ministries, details have been worked out to allow visa-on-arrival at major international airports.
This concession would be extended later to 18 other countries who do not offer this facility to India. Tourism ministry officials said providing visas on arrival would not be a problem since advance passenger information system is in place at the 6 major international airports.
“The home ministry has cited some security issues in allowing visa-on-arrival to the nationals of all 18 countries. Therefore, chances are that the facility would be provided to only those countries which offer reciprocal benefit to Indian tourists,” a source in the tourism ministry said.
Sources said the home ministry has agreed to consider implementation of visa-on-arrival gradually. However, the facility would not be extended to all categories of travellers and countries due to security reasons. The ministry had earlier been against the very idea of visa-on-arrival.
The government is now considering visa-on-arrival to citizens of the US, Japan, France, Germany, New Zealand, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Finland, South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and the UK. A liberal visa regime will facilitate business visits to India which, in turn, will boost foreign investment.
The government feels that by mid-2009, infrastructure at major airports like Delhi and Mumbai will have been upgraded to handle tasks related to issue of visas. At present, the infrastructure at major airports is inadequate for providing visa on arrival.
The visa-on-arrival list initially had 16 countries, which has now been enlarged by including the US and the UK. A final decision on the list will be taken shortly. While India has always refrained from issuing visas on arrival, this facility has been extended to certain categories of visitors in special circumstances. In December 2004, the government had announced visa on arrival at Wagah border for certain categories of Pakistani travellers.
Incredible India is feeling the heat. No, it’s not the summer. It’s the slow drying up of order books for inbound travel and hotels. Travel agents are reporting a 20-25% dip in leisure bookings for the coming holiday season. The epicentre of the trouble, it appears, is about 16,000 miles away.
Heard this: “The recession in the US is a lot worse than it looks. I went to a restaurant in New York where I would wait for an hour in the past. This time it was half empty,” says one of Creative Travel’ US-based agents, who sends high profile groups to India. As an analogy, it might be crude, but it sure does give a sense of the situation on the ground. This is true for some other countries as well, like the UK.
Travel agents are reporting a dip of around 25% in leisure travel bookings into India for the coming winter season. Travel plans are usually finalised at least six months in advance and in the wake of the US slowdown, not many queries and bookings are coming in. “We are seeing an impact on leisure bookings for next inbound peak season, the coming winter,” says Rajeev Kohli, director, marketing, Creative Travel.
MICE (meetings, incentive, exhibitions and conferences) travel and corporate traffic have also been impacted by the US recession. Occupancies in hotels in metro cities, which cater to business tourists, are expected to dip by 8-10% in May and June, says Arjun Sharma, MD, Le Passage to India.
“Business delegations from America and travel by IT companies too have slowed down,” he explains. Even the few travellers coming in from the US are planning to spend less. “Mid-segment travel will get affected the most,” says Himmat Anand, co-chairman of the Ficci Tourism Committee. Growth is not very bullish. “The government claims tourism is growing at over 12% in 2008 but I feel it is 7-8% maximum,” he adds. Even in the peak months of November and February, he says, rooms were available easily. For the coming season, hotels in most leisure locations are offering deals, though discreetly, trying to convey that things are not as bad as they look.
Air charters from the UK are expected to be affected and so will be the student groups. “Around 35% of the Goa charter market is the lower end of the UK market which is going to be hit during the coming season,” says Sunirmol Ghosh, MD, Indo-Asia Tours. For Indo-Asia, there has been a 20-25% dip in bookings from the US and UK for the coming winter season. Student trip bookings from the US for this summer and Christmas time for Ghosh’s company are down by at least 50%. Rajji Rai, MD, Swift Travels too is worried about the 20% fall in bookings from the UK and the US for his company.
Overall, international agents indicate that bookings for the coming leisure season are down by at least 25%, on the back of lesser bookings from the US and UK, especially. In many cases, India’s perception as an expensive destination could also be the reason for it not figuring in the travel plans of many a traveller, especially in the long-haul markets.
India is certainly looking more expensive on the brochures. It’s significant to note that the two most affected countries, UK and the US, make about 20-22% of India’s inbound numbers. Sharma feels that though there is certainly some concern with bookings down by at least 15-18%, this trend can be arrested in the near future. “The ministry of Tourism can step-up the Incredible India campaign in new markets to get additional numbers in the coming season,” he suggests.Though some travel majors continue to refute the slowdown’s negative impact on inbound tourism, reality is that for now not all’s hunky dory in the travel space.
