In the aftermath of IATO: Revive tourism glory

Unfilled tourism potential

However, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is not fulfilling its tourism potential. According to an estimate, on an average nearly 20 lakh domestic tourists visited the district, (based on the sale of tickets on ticketed monuments, including single tourist visiting multiple sites), in the pre-Covid era. The number has now nearly halved. Surprisingly, in the last many years, the highest annual foreign tourist arrivals figure has been a paltry 40,000, say experts. While the tourism industry has still not recovered from the Covid impact, the major reason for the lacklustre tourism figures is the lack of marketing.

IATO convention in city

In a welcome step to remove this anomaly, the annual convention of the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) was held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recently. IATO, the national Apex body of tourism industry with over 1600 members and deep connections with major tourism bodies in the world, is very choosey in selecting sites for its national meet. Thanks to consistent efforts by the Aurangabad Tourism Development Foundation leaders Sunit Kothari and Jaswant Singh, the city hosted the convention. Nearly 900 paid delegates from across India including Bihar, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman Nicobar, Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir and 180 dignitaries including ministers, bureaucrats, media persons, influences and bloggers were in the city for three days seeing for themselves the Incredible Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

Witnessing splendour of Ajanta, Ellora

Though the erstwhile Aurangabad had been on the tourism map of the country for decades, majority of tour operators said that they visited Ajanta, Ellora caves, magnificent Kailasa temple and other monuments for the first time in life and were bemused by their beauty and splendour. The tour operators are the ones who play an important role in preparing the itinerary for foreign tourists and generally aggressively sale Delhi-Udaipur-Jaipur-Agra sector and south Indian monuments. After their first-hand experience here, it would not be out of place to assume that they have now got a new option to offer – Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The entire top brass and members of the tourism industry, all dealing with inbound tourism (foreign tourist arrivals), were present. Tourist itineraries are generally decided in March to May and have been fixed for this year but in the 2024-25 one is sure to see significant rise in the foreign tourist arrival.

Make most of the good work

To follow up the good work, peoples’ representatives and administration should start making efforts to enhance air connectivity on Udaipur, Jaipur route. This flight was once a mainstay of tourism industry and was revived in 2019 but discontinued after Covid-19 struck. Introducing Udan flights from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to cover more destinations will also be a good idea. The city has a great potential to be a Meeting, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibition (MICE) destination. The special initiative to attract non-resident Indian segment for religious tourism can delivered wonderful results. Its affordability makes the city a very good wedding destination also.

CM, dy CMs, tourism min skip event

The bureaucracy, particularly the tourism department higher-ups, took active part in the mega event. However, the chief minister, both his deputies and the tourism minister chose to remain away from the biggest tourism event happening in the tourism capital of Maharashtra. Surprisingly, the organisers made no efforts to involve local MP Imtiaz Jaleel, who has been vocal in raising the tourism issues, in the deliberations.

Now is the time to make most of the buzz that the conference has created. The authorities need to keep aside their egos and make sincere efforts to develop tourism brand Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.