By Rishi Puri, Senior Vice President, Lords Hotels and Resorts
We should celebrate National Tourism Day (25th January) to highlight the beautiful landscape of our country and to present India through both domestic and outbound tourism; and this can be also one way to beat the slowdown faced by our country.
We celebrate National Tourism Day to felicitate the basic human spirit for adventure and exploration of new destinations, building human character in the process. From the mountains of the Himalayas in Kashmir to the seacoasts of Kanyakumari and from the Thar deserts of Rajasthan to the humid forests of the northeast, India displays her wealth of diversity in cultures, religious fairs and festivals. Indeed, India follows unity in diversity.
The country has a large treasure of natural beauty, archaeological and architectural monuments. In addition, there are many hill resorts, beach resorts, mountains and rivers etc. The northern part of India is famous for its hills, plains, rivers, and monuments etc- the Himalayas, Kashmir Valley, the Ganges. The Taj Mahal, the Qutub Minar, religious centers like Varanasi, Badrinath attracts large number of tourists.
The western region has tourist centers like Ajantha-Ellora and industrial centre like Mumbai. Goa beach attracts foreign and Indian tourists. The southern region has many temples, beaches, hill resorts, cultural heritage etc. Places like Chennai, Madurai, Bangalore and Thiruvananthapuram are important centres of tourism in South India.
The eastern region has tourist attraction like the Gir Forest, pilgrim centers like Konarak and industrial centres like Kolkata. There are colourful tribal life-styles of the North Eastern States of Nagaland, Mizoram, Tripura and Manipur with their folk culture is also worth mention. In the central Indian states of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, tribal village life has resulted in a variety of artistically executed handicrafts.
India’s mountains provide opportunities for mountaineering and trekking. Beaches provide lazy sun bathing as well as wind surfing and snorkelling and its jungles provide shooting wildlife. India’s natural beauty and its geographic location can be compared with that of any other country in the world and its rich heritage makes it unique in the world.
India is one of those rare countries, which has a wonderful blend of all the resources essential to make it as a golden star on the Tourism map of the world. Its magnificent monuments attract large numbers of visitors from all over the world. India has an exceptionally varied climate ranging from the extreme cold in high altitude and hot summer in the plains.
