“Government’s decision to launch a challenge-based model for the selection of at least 50 destinations across India is a hugely welcome step for the development of world-class tourism experience in the country. With a holistic focus on not only hard infrastructure, like physical connectivity but also on softer aspects of Tourism experience delivery like Travel agent quality and tourist safety, the proposed destination rankings will help foster friendly competition among destinations to rank higher than their compatriots. While we await the exact details of the scheme, what gives us optimism is the success of a similar model used for the Swachh Bharat City rankings. We have all seen the positive impact these city rankings have had on cleanliness across cities in India, driven in large part due to the sense of competition introduced by the scheme. In a survey done by Local Circles on Sep-Oct 22, 53% of respondents believed that the scheme had led to an improvement in civic sense among the general public. A similar grassroots level change will go a long way in delivering a true “Atithi Devo Bhava” experience for guests to these destinations.”- Ashish Sidhra, Co-founder of Alike.io.
