The transformation that has taken place in the last decade by doubling the number of airports, having world-class infrastructure for connectivity railroads, various facets of it, highways, expressways highways that match the best in the world.
Diplomats, grateful for your gracious presence, all stakeholders in tourism, and distinguished audience. On the occasion of World Tourism Day, it is very significant for the entire planet because it connects those bonds of humanity which are much needed at the moment, my greetings.
This is an event to celebrate the profound impact of tourism on global economic development, social progress, and cultural exchange. Friends, these are just not words, you realise them on the ground. They are reflected tangibly, economic development is intertwined with the tourist industry, with tourism.
The theme this year is very thoughtful and bears huge contemporary relevance, tourism and peace. The theme underlines something very deep. It connects amongst human resources, connects amongst people, and people-to-people contact. That is conducive to harmony and generates an ecosystem of exchange of ideas. Therefore, rightly so, tourism contributes massively to peace, the theme is not a day too soon, the entire world is yearning for peace.
We are traumatised by conflagrations, any conflagration in any part of the globe is torture to every part of the land. It disrupts supply chains, disrupts planning, a pain and therefore, tourism and peace have great relevance.
The theme is particularly befitting for Bharat, the largest, vibrant, and functional democracy, home to one-sixth of humanity, tourism globally is a thriving industry. It is so thriving that some countries thrive only on tourism, their economy is sustained by tourism, it is the spine of their economy when it comes to Bharat. A statement was made, taking note of the phenomenal, exponential progress this nation has witnessed in a decade.
I go back to more than three decades when I was a Member of Parliament in 1989 and a Minister in the Union Government then, the size of our economy was smaller than that of the city of Paris and London. When I went to Jammu and Kashmir, Srinagar, as part of the Council of Ministers, I could not see more than dozens of people on the streets, We were staying at a hotel by Dal lake and now imagine where we have come. Two crore people visited Kashmir as tourists last year.
The economy today of Bharat has traversed in a decade from a fragile five to the five largest global economies. In the next two years, by all indications, we will be ahead of Japan and Germany to be the third. That is where Bharat is at the moment. So much has changed in the ecosystem by affirmative governance, technological advancement, transparent, accountable mechanisms in place for every governmental dealing that the International Monetary Fund reflected. India is a favourite global destination for investment and opportunity.
India, that is Bharat, is favourite global destination for tourism, go to any part of India, and the diplomats present here who have been to various parts, I am sure, will bear me out. We have tourism for all seasons, come to this land of spirituality, land of sublimity, land of knowledge, land of Vedas, and the civilisational ethos of 5000 years. Any time of the year, you will have the occasion to feast on tourist destinations.
The economic growth engine of this nation, destined to reach 2047 as a developed nation, will be fuelled majorly by tourism and I have no doubt you will leave no effort to tap the potential waiting to be exploited. And why not? All that is needed for the exploitation of our tourist resources and tourism destinations is, one, you need an image of the nation.
An image of Bharat in the world is very different from what it was a decade ago, the leadership of Bharat is recognised globally. Which other economy in the world of this size can claim to be rising around 8% GDP annually? and so, predicted for many years to come. Look at 1.4 billion people being serviced with last-mile delivery with respect to toilets, electricity, internet, education, and tap water. ‘हर घर नल, हर नल में जल, जल निश्चित रूप से, जल क्वालिटी का होI, tested him stringently when he called upon me to inaugurate one of his pilot projects.
I said Mr. Minister, go to Jhunjhunu, my home district, click off the button, go to my Tehsil Chirawa click off the button, I said, go to my village, Kithana click off the button and tell me how many houses have नल with जल. My house had, the name was there. Some houses did not have, and faithfully, they were also reflected with one indicator, the work is in progress.
Moved by this great achievement, accomplishment, and credentials, he has now been given the daunting task where he will have to deal with everyone. He is very tactful, go to the Civil Aviation Minister here. He will get the Railway Minister, you will have to get all the Ministers. Because, if I say in Hindi, ‘टूरिज्म तो बहुत बड़ा हवन है, इस हवन कुंड में हर किसी को आहुति देनी है और यह आहुति प्राप्त करने का काम आपका है। ‘
But have it from me, if I go by global standards, if we manage to tap and exploit our tourist resource, then we will be solving three problems that will exemplify a model to the entire world, like our digitisation model.
One, there will be massive contributions to the economy, there will be massive upskilling and, as rightly indicated, if we have expert people who handle tourism, because every tourist comes with a dream, he comes not to face hiccups. He needs hand-holding when needed, he wants a seamless working, developmental journey of Bharat. Various elements have provided it. But human resource matters and therefore, I will urge the Honourable Minister to get in touch with educational institutions so that your high-quality, skilled human resources to deal with this particular sector.
We must make it extremely affordable, there can be no greater ambassador for tourism than our Honourable Prime Minister. He spent just a few moments in Lakshadweep, and the entire world came to know about it. You will have to explore every part of this country, you have at your disposal institutions like the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, the Indian Council of World Affairs, our foreign missions, and general cultural centres.
As Governor of the State of West Bengal, I was Chairman of the Eastern Zone Cultural Centre, having ten states. If you go to a place like Meghalaya, you will be wonderstruck with the purity of water, you will be amazed to see a village that is so eco-friendly. Even during these ten years, we have created marvels for tourism.
The Statue of Unity is mix of culture and history of this nation, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. We have had such long tunnels, we have had such bridges, and the diplomats must have seen in silently, there was emergence suddenly of Bharat Mandapam, Yashobhumi, these things are happening. That being the situation, we have to take our due place on the tourism map of the world because we are the oldest civilisation.
UNESCO says we have 45 heritage sites, I don’t limit that number at all. they have calibrated from their science, It is manifold, use reflected, Durga Puja, you will be going. Ganesh Chaturthi, Onam, Holi, Diwali and let me tell you, festivals are magnetic attractions for tourism.
History was created when Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Mongolia, they postponed their celebration of the main festival, for example, our Deepawali will be in a particular month, It was held a month ago because they wanted to showcase the culture of their country.
You had the privilege of listening to the Honourable Prime Minister here. He has not missed words. He has given all indications of what we have done and therefore, let us commit on this day that we will put Bharat at its due place as we are putting Bharat in various other areas.
आज के दिन यदि अगर मैं कहूं तो जल, थल, आकाश और अंतरिक्ष, भारत की धूम मच रही है। If we examine happenings on the sea, on the land, in the sky, or in space, our accomplishments are globally resonating. We are making economic progress through our space technology by launching satellites of other nations, including developed nations, much has to be done to secure that status but for the Tourism Minister, the work has been done for the last 5000 years to make Bharat a gold mine for tourists and in the last 10 years, development has taken to that level that now his imagination has to take flight. Your flight has to be in space. You have to make an effort that every area of tourism comes to be known and comes to be known impactfully and I’m sure you will put our foreign missions also in mission mode on discount. That will propel our economy to make us a developed nation and according to me, I may not be around. We are destined to achieve it much before India celebrates the centenary of its independence.
One way to frog leap, to take a big jump, is to set task forces in various verticals that evaluate the ground situations, generate a synergetic stance, and yield results. This is going to happen, I have no doubt about it.
People look for employment, for a long time, we thought the only employment that was available was government service. I wonder to myself if the World Bank reflected that India is a favourite destination of investment and opportunity. Surely it was not for government jobs, which means opportunity lies elsewhere.
Tourism offers a basket of opportunities where you can have value additions, there is enough market for our products. I went to an expo two days ago in Uttar Pradesh, I found the ground reality of the Prime Minister’s vision of one district, one product, I saw seventy-five products from seventy-five districts, and मन नहीं किया कि अलग हट जाए, grass का काम brass का काम। I went to an institute yesterday, बंबू से क्या लकड़ी बनी है! सागौन से ज्यादा मजबूत है। I had the occasion to go to Surajkund to see the Northeast State Exhibition क्या करिश्माई काम है, टूरिस्ट देखते रह जाते हैं।
we have to tap it for global peace and harmony because हमारे ethos क्या कहते हैं? हमारी संस्कृति क्या कहती है, वह कहती है – अतिथि देवो भव. That is why what happened during G20 was gratifying for me as Vice-President because leaders spoke about it. Over two hundred foreign delegations visited every state and union territory, they were exposed to our cuisine, our cultural wealth, and our tourist destinations and they had only one thing, accolades for us. Unhesitatingly it was indicated that the benchmark set up by us was very high and difficult to achieve.
Therefore, your level of satisfaction has to be shifting every day, when you reach one level, it should go to the next level. Your ministry, Gajendraji, will become, according to me, a generator of employment, entrepreneurship will blossom. It will be a crucible of innovation when it comes to value additions, and that will be an added advantage for the entire nation.
Foundation, Atithi Devo Bhava, आपका कार्यक्रम कितना अच्छा है, देखो अपना देश, स्वदेश दर्शन, spiritual tourism, medical tourism, religious tourism very high standards, there is all-around upliftment in the upkeep of our religious places. The domestic tourism has got geometrical dimensions as a result of these steps.
I, therefore, while commending you and congratulating everyone present on World Tourism Day, appeal to everyone to be a tourist. There is no greater education than through travel. There is no greater seamless connect than through tourism, you get a soothing impact you are destressed. You are tension-free when you spend time in Himachal Pradesh or Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Kerala. I can name all these states, including my home state Rajasthan.
So, friends, I am delighted on this occasion that we are moving fast in this country to make the life of everyone easy. We are facilitating business, ease of business, ease of living for that category of people who never imagined a cooking gas being given to those who never imagined they could have it, affordable housing.
The amenities which are normally aligned with urban life are available in villages, I have no doubt even the villages will tremendously benefit from your great efforts. congratulations to all of you, and more so for your patience.
Thank you.
