Charms of the Nawab's own country

With Mrigasira Karthika, lakhs of people from all over the country and abroad, poured into the city as the Batthini Goud brothers administered their famed fish medicine for asthma at the Exhibition Grounds.

It was these visitors that caught the attention of tourism officials in Andhra Pradesh, who declared the week ending 10 June as the “Visit Hyderabad Week.” The state Tourism Ministry, which estimated about six to seven lakh asthma patients to visit the city, hit upon the idea of what it calls promotion of “Medical Tourism,” ie, promoting the tourist attractions in the city to the visitors coming for the fish medicine.

As part of the programme, the Department of Tourism has illuminated all tourist spots in the twin cities such as Charminar, Golconda Fort, Legislative Assembly, Tank Bund, Buddha Statutue, Hussain Sagar, Shilparamam Crafts Village, Ravindra Bharati, Lalitha Kala Thoranam, and Qutb Shahi tombs.

To spread awareness of tourist spots among the visitors and guide them on reaching those destinations, the department has opened several 24-hour “tourist information counters” at Secunderabad, Nampally, and Kachiguda railway stations, at bus terminals in Imliban and Picket, besides one each at the airport and the venue itself.

The department is also organising cultural events in different parts of the twin cities, projecting the ethnic, cultural and religious diversity of Hyderabad. Films on tourist destinations in Andhra are being screened at the Necklace Road.

Above all, most hotels and traders of various curious, handicrafts and commodities such as pearls, bidri work, jewellery, and readymade garments are offering 20 per cent discount during the programme to encourage them to shop here.

"Since lakhs of people throng the city, we are trying to entice at least 20 per cent of them to visit various places of tourist attractions in the city,” says Kishan Rao, Director Tourism.

The department is mainly focussing on attracting those who accompany the patients. "At least two people accompany a patient and they have nothing much to do, except getting the patients administered the fish medicine. It is these people we are targeting so that they can go around and see the places of historical and religious importance here," says Krishna Rao, Deputy Director of Tourism Department. However, the promotion has drawn flak with critics wondering how much of a destination Hyderabad really is in view of the lack of even basic infrastructural facilities and a lot of tourism projects still hanging fire.

“What is there to show to a foreign tourist? We lack even minimal infrastructure facilities at the tourist spots in terms of private and public transportation, hotels in the medium range, and even curios that can be picked up and traded,” says a noted tour operator.

“Add to it the price differential in charging foreign tourists extra for entry fees into various monuments. This puts off a lot of tourists. This discrimination is not practiced anywhere else in the world,” he adds.

“Hyderabad as a tourist destination hasn’t really taken off,” says Ashish Saran, Branch Manager of Sita World Travel.

“Tourism is not landscape and monuments alone, but also about excursion and recreation value. Where are the facilities for recreation? We are not able to market the place because of the lack of facilities for recreation and leisure,” he says.

When compared with other Indian cities, Hyderabad reportedly gets less than 10 per cent of the traffic that visits the B category of tourist cities, wherein A consists of the golden triangle of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur, and B categories include Goa, Bombay, Bangalore, Varanasi etc.

“If 40 to 50 travel customers a day I handle in B cities, I handle only 3-4 in Hyderabad,” Saran says, adding that Hyderabad is not very appealing in excursional or even religious value. There are no significant resorts. It’s just a one-day touring destination.

“I’d be interested in marketing something that’s saleable. I’d be more confortable sending my clients to Ooty or Moonar, not to a place where they wouldn’t be satisfied or happy. They come on a sabbatical and look for recreation, landscape, comfortable reach and stay. What is there to offer here? Children are very important decision makers for a holiday. What does Hyderabad have to offer them?” asks Ashish.

Agrees Priti Kapoor, Branch Manager, Cox and Kings: “Tourists love civilisations or beaches or landscapes, which we don’t have much to boast of. Let’s face it, we have very little heritage to boast of. Foreign tourists love palaces and forts. We can’t harp on just one or two to impress them.”

The tour operators rue the lack of infrastructure too. “Moreover, whatever little is there, hasn’t been developed to offer good access and accommodation,” says Kapoor.

“Even if there are some good spots, they haven’t been developed in terms of infrastructure to support tourists. There are only a few government guesthouses here and there, but that’s it. Also, travel within the city is not impressive,” Saran says.

Countrywide, domestic tourism is growing at the rate of 18 per cent. There is a huge market of VRF (visiting friends and relatives) tourists, and infrastructure needs to be developed and the spots marketed well, if we want to capture this growing segment, he adds.

The tour operators say whatever little is being done is not enough. If the government has woken up late, it needs to make up for the lost time. It needs to develop the surroundings as Hyderabad alone doesn’t make for a holiday destination, but could be part of a package that has locations of excursional value, landscape value, cottages or resorts etc.

But, with upcoming projects, there is some hope for Hyderabad, they feel. The government had appointed reputed consultants like EDAW of UK, the World Tourism Organisation, and the famous architect Charles Corea to prepare blueprints for developing identified “special tourism areas.” Several projects have hence been announced for Hyderabad as well as other tourist spots.

The projects in Hyderabad include a convention centre, a floating Restaurant at Hussainsagar lake, a family entertainment centre at Yatri Nivas, a three-star resort at Gandipet, Hyderabad Botanical Gardens Phase-II at Madhapur, heritage hotel and a hotel district, night safari at Kothaguda, a bird park at Naya Qila, near Golconda, mini golf courses, and amusement parks on the lines of Disneyland at Shamshabad.

“You get a lot of business travellers. The international convention centre is the best thing that’s going to happen to Hyderabad. We hardly have any good convention centres. And being well connected by air, we should take the maximum advantage of the centre. Then build up infrastructure around existing tourist spots to entertain the participants at the conventions. The IMAX theatre and amusement park also might improve the tourist revenues,” says Kapoor.

However, with some of the projects around the Hussainsagar Lake mired in the legal wrangles, after several NGOs and concerned organizations like Hyderabad Bachao, moved the High Court against the promotion of such projects, and some others like the Rs 10-crore cultural complex at Shilparamam apparently hitting roadblocks due to paucity of funds, there are doubts as to when the city could become a successful tourist centre.

“We don’t see Hyderabad tourism growing even after five years going by the current rate of progress. What Hyderabad can become is a Delhi five or eight years hence -- a commercial complex, good shopping venue. There will be an odd sightseeing here and there. That’s it,” says Saran.