“The traveller sees what he sees, the tourist sees what he has come to see.”
Co-quoting the lines of Gilbert K Chesterton, today, this article is penned down with certain thoughts with reference to the tourism industry in the State of Assam. Certain diverse dynamics related to the tourism industry of the State needs retrospection to flourish its insouciant approach to an efficient tourism model approach and lay emphasis on how such approaches can serve as a boon in its service sector, considering the post-COVID-19 effects and the necessity to maintain certain standards and norms as per the then required situation.
The tourism sector in Assam was, in my opinion, laid back compared to the rest of the states across the country much before the COVID-19 impact. Despite its existence with enormous and unique natural endowments with a vast plethora of fauna and flora, its sea of regional diversity in food, culture, suitable climatic conditions; the state still scores low in the criteria of tourism ranking vis-à-vis to rest of the tourist hotspots across the country.
Nonetheless, the Department of Tourism, Government of Assam, has outlaid a number of multi-layered projects and a lot of investments can be witnessed in the state through the construction of mega five-star hotels, malls, few giant resorts and upcoming projects like the inclusion of luxury cruises on the river Brahmaputra.
However, despite such infrastructural development and huge investments, I would like to pose a thought – Is Assam ready for grooming itself up in line with this commercialised competitive world?, Do we stand at par with rest of states when it comes to the tourism practices like that of Kerela, Goa, Maharashtra, Gujarat or Rajasthan, being the top tourists’ destinations in India?
In this context, outlining some of the certain dynamic aspects that the tourism units of the state shall consider in order to ramp up from its fragile chain of a network to a streamlined mode of execution.
Warm Hospitality Attitude
Going by the age-old saying, “A man without a smiling face must not open a shop,” is indeed the utmost etiquette and prerequisite norm that forms the base of any tourism sector that is usually seen absent in our work culture. A warm hospitality service served with a cordial smile to the customers, be it in any small retail shops to resorts, hostel services, restaurants or any public places, is always the first thing a tourist remembers.
Practising such welcoming gestures can add a positive notch to the unenthusiastic and blunt hospitality skills in this sector thereby leaving a great impression on any tourist. Genuine emphasis on the hospitality attribute services of the staffs through weekly/monthly reviews, promotion of on-job training facilities mainly on soft skill developments and other hospitality standards is one of the certain aspects that Assam lacks in its tourism hospitality services and needs a serious repute of concern.
Creating A Professional Environment
The tourism sector currently lacks the sheer professionalism attitude when it comes to maintaining a highly competitive environment. Emphasis on developing robust measures like generating efficient tourism information centres equipped with valid phone numbers and email ids followed by quick response services, on-job training services on harnessing prominent marketing, and promotional skills with respect to various cultural places, ethnic cuisines, roadshows, presentation of handicrafts items shall be taken into consideration required to attract tourists.
Punctuality and discipline in delivering services with proper dress code norms shall be imposed as one of the prerequisite norms on the professional front of the tourism sector. Thus, professionalism in the tourism industry being another utmost etiquette demands retrospection from its customary ways to plausible implementations.
Mandatory Inclusion of Basic Infrastructure
One of the prime basic infrastructures that our government has failed to consider is making the availability of access to clean and neat public toilet services in the tourist spots. Be it for children or elderly people, having access to toilet services is the basic requirement of any tourist spot which is not currently seen in the execution. In this aspect, the government can go for a payment-based model that can be sufficed based on the revenue collected by the respected tourism authority of the place.
Another set of infrastructure facilities, in my opinion, that Assam usually had been lacking compared to other places say, Gujarat or Maharashtra is the absence of cleanliness and maintenance norms in some of the hotel and tourist services. Barring a few finite numbers, be it be lounge services, dining or bathroom facilities, and hygiene maintenance, not all hotels or tourist resorts are suitable for accommodation.
Despite being in the 21st century, apart from proper wifi connections, the facility of car rental services, tourist areas still lacks easy and convenient means of commute that calls for immediate attention by the tourist authorities. Additionally, this is stated with reference to one of the feedbacks given by a host of Japanese tourists who had visited Assam on a business tour and were facing difficulty due to absence of foreign exchange booths in and around the tourist locations.
Since Assam is now land with thousands of foreign tourists every year, infrastructure like foreign exchange booths within the periphery of the tourist locations demands an immediate call of action.
Execution Of Robust Management Operations And Maintenance
In present times, the Assam Government has invested crores of public money flooding the landscape to boost the tourism sector in the state. In fact, considering till last year, a lot of foreign tourists (around 42,000 in numbers) choose Assam as one of the favourite tourist destinations when it comes to its spellbinding natural beauty.
But, despite such a surge, tourism in this state hasn’t been able to contribute largely to the economy, and one of the key reasons being the lack of robust management system throughout the chain of tourist services across the tourist hotspots in the State. For a vibrant tourism sector, strong leadership with outstanding customer-pleasing attributes are required in the management sector to bring it at par to the rest of the states and across the world. In context to maintenance, hygiene norms, promptness in hospitality services, unique and updated infrastructural layouts shall be taken into retrospection to re-furnish the tourism industry.
In reference to the pre-COVID-19 scenario, in the wake of the anti-CAA protests, the tourism sector in Assam had already lost a tune of 1,000 crores, thereby contributing to the growth of a mere 5.5 % GDP to its economy.
After the onset of the Coronavirus, where the most visible and immediate impact is seen on the hotel and tourism sector across the world, Assam staggers a loss of over ₹500 crore revenue collection during the phase. As reported, the hotel industry of Assam had lost a tune of around ₹13 crores due to the outbreak.
The tourism sector has been badly affected, plunging the revenue scales. Despite the rigid curve, foreseeing the positive consequences, the tourism sector of Assam being one of the integral contributors to the state’s economy needs to be revamped, prepared and well-planned considering the post-COVID-19 crises and norms.
The pandemic has taught us the importance of hygienic and maintaining hygiene standards, not only inside the home, but also anywhere outside the home. The concept of a hygiene-driven culture vehemently implemented in Japan needs to be inculcated in every nook and corner across the world and especially in context to the tourism prospects for a healthy and sound economy.
Assam, being the hub of the North East region and especially, the gateway to the South-East Asian region shall augment its tourism sector considering COVID-19 precautionary measures along with the aforesaid dynamic aspects for further safety and well-being of its economy. Post Covid-19 tourist hotspots especially the hotels, resorts and restaurants should be prepared to adapt to the growing health consciousness and anxiety amongst people through confidence-building measures.
The use of masks, shower caps, gloves should be provided to the restaurant/hotel staff while serving customers and also while preparing food in the kitchens.
The food prepared inside the kitchen should be made visible to the customers or in absence of that, the visuals could be displayed on how the food is getting prepared in a hygienic manner so that customers/tourists can enjoy their meals with no doubt in their minds.
The tables of the dining area or in any restaurants should be placed maintaining a particular distance, adhering to the concept of social distancing. The same system should also be put into practice while queueing up for any eatery or queuing up to make any kind of payments.
Each restaurant dining tables should be equipped with sanitizers or sterilizers to prevent the queueing up for the toilet and washbasin.
Temperature checking can also be put into practice at the entrance of the restaurant/hotel/resort.
Resorts/hotels rooms should be equipped with cleanly packed bedsheets, personal hygiene products, towels and daily room cleaning services should remain intact.
Waste Management in tourist hotspots should be prioritised. Daily sanitisation of areas with a large gathering, outside road-side food stalls, small street shops etc. should be made mandatory for the seller before closing down his shop for the day. In fact, only shops equipped with hygiene standard requirements (at least with gloves, mask, sanitizing tissues) should be given permission to carry out their businesses in the tourist areas.
Hence, the tourism industry of Assam needs to be re-polished and refurnished developing into a holistic hospitality culture, making it well-equipped with the requisite standards that call for immediate action of implementation. To stand at par with the South Asian markets in the near future, the tourism industry of Assam can play a great role in booming its economy. Summing up by the ageless Sanskrit saying ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guests are God).