Tourism Minister Jay Narayan Vyas (who is also the Health Minister) announced that the state government is dedicated to promote Gujarat as a major tourism destination for which it is open to co-operate with the leading players in the tourism industry. “We shall be the facilitators,” Vyas said, adding, “There will be at least three conclaves dealing with different aspects of Gujarat’s tourism this year alone.”

Tourism Secretary Vipul Mitra, who was also present at the media briefing at the Grand Cambay Hotel, said tourism was the state’s best bet on promoting inclusive growth, with the best potential for employment generation. “Till 2006, the government focussed on industry, agriculture and infrastructure. With these already in place, we are now talking in terms of selling Gujarat as a tourist destination to the world,” Mitra said.

The Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) has also published a booklet offering a number of tour packages in the state, ranging from religious tours to handicraft and architecture, wildlife to a ‘Rann Utsav’ and even a ‘Gandhi Circuit’.

TCGL Managing Director Anoop Shukla said the state has been geographically divided into tourist hubs because the “destinations in Gujarat are mosaic”.

The executive summary of a FICCI-Yes Bank report titled “Furthering the growth of Gujarat Tourism with Special emphasis on Health and Wellness Tourism” was also released at the briefing. The study mentioned the Geneva-based International Trade Commission’s projections of worldwide health tourism attaining a value of 188 billion dollars by 2013, and asserted that this particular sector “can play a leading role in boosting Gujarat Tourism”.

In this regard, the study recommended that the government “initiate the process of hospital accreditation... to lay down industry standards”, which will in turn “help obtain the high-end insurance-driven medical tourism industry”.

It also mentioned other challenges, such as shortage of good accommodation facilities across Gujarat, lack of quantitative information and hospitals beyond Ahmedabad and Vadodara not meeting international standards. The study, however, said that “Gujarat has world-class hospitals at Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Karamsad and Nadiad, among others”.

Listing out the reasons why health tourism is a potential boon, the study said, “Gujarat can provide ‘value for money’ healthcare facilities along with the gentleness for which Gandhiji was known.”

State banks on Buddha, Mahatma
The state’s Tourism Department is considering the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi and Gautam Buddha as potential tourist attractions.

In a booklet titled “Gujarat Revealed”, TCGL is offering tour packages titled the “Gandhi Circuit” and the “Buddhist Circuit”. The four days/three nights “Gandhi Circuit” begins at Porbandar, Gandhi’s ancestral home, and Kirti Mandir, which was built in his memory. The second day of the tour starts at Rajkot where Gandhi attended school, while the evening that day follows with a visit to the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.

The third morning consists of a tour of Ahmedabad, including a heritage walk, sightseeing of the havelis, courtyard temples, markets and the mausoleum of Ahmad Shah along with a visit to the Juma Masjid. This is followed by a visit to Surat for the fourth day’s tour to Dandi and a return to Ahmedabad via Vadodara.