Letters: Safeguarding tourism

This refers to the report "India draws tourists with deep pockets" (February 17). Leisure tourism needs to go beyond the traditional government focus on historical sites such as the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, and melas (fairs) such as Pushkar and Kumbh among others. India now needs to innovate and focus on new areas such as lighthouse tourism, river rafting, jungle safaris and farm tourism. Hong Kong, for instance, has built cycle tracks in tourism parks where people can cycle over different tracks. Of late, the government has woken up to tap the potential of lighthouse tourism, and because of this a number of defunct lighthouses are now being revamped to attract tourists. Safety is another concern, especially for women tourists. Other nations issue regular travel advisories to their citizens when they travel to India. Some emphasis should be laid on creating tourist police, complete with its own helpline number, to provide protection to women foreign tourists. The tourism ministry should also provide guides to save foreign tourists from being exploited by touts. The tourism sector has tremendous potential for generating jobs for the youth of the nation.

Deendayal M Lulla Mumbai

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