| Tapping Tourism Holy city has miles to go |
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| Written by Sanjay Bumbroo, Tribune News Service, Amritsar | |
| Saturday, 17 May 2008 | |
 The tourism potential of the holy city is far more than what has been tapped, provided facilities like tourist information centres, transportation and civic amenities are improved.This was stated by Punjab CII vice-chairman Gunbir Singh while talking to The Tribune. He said being a pilgrimage and historical destination, the holy city could work wonders. He said the Golden Temple had 1.5 lakh tourists per day while the famous Taj Mahal had just 27,000 visitors, both foreign and national, per day on an average. “The administration’s proposal to deploy tourism police to help and guide the visitors has attracted the tourists,” he said, adding that the CII was conducting orientation courses for the tourism policemen. Guide Gurinder Singh Johal said the Golden Temple and Beating Retreat ceremony were the only major attractions in the city even then there was an increase in the number of foreign tourists. He said there were 15 guides in the city but they were neither trained nor recognised due to which they had to face problems with foreign tourists. He suggested the state government should issue green cards to the tourists guides on the patter of Rajasthan. “Besides, rural tourism can be also promoted by developing farmhouses where foreign tourist could enjoy rural hospitality and the real Punjab,” he said. |
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