Gloomy World Tourism Day in Taj city Agra

Cold Apathy

♦ Hotel industry under pressure

♦ Rising burden of a variety of taxes

♦ Falling graph of visitors

♦ Staying overnight in Agra a major concern

Agra: Frustrated and sore with the continued neglect of Agra by the State and Central governments, the World Tourism Day celebrations in the Taj City brought little cheer or hope for buoyancy, even as a new tourist season is about to begin.

Half a dozen local WhatsApp groups were full of gloomy posts as tourism industry leaders expressed deep concern over the cold apathy of the State government to promote Agra as the country’s number one destination.

Senior tourism industry leaders said, “There was nothing much to look forward to as a number of our demands that could spurt the growth in this vital sector have been rejected or cold-storaged.”

The travel trade laments the lack of air connectivity to Agra. “Smaller cities have regular flights, but not India’s tourist destination number one,” says Anil Sharma, spearheading a movement for an international airport at Agra, for the past several years.

The hotel industry has been affected not only by the rising burden of a variety of taxes, but also by the falling graph of visitors staying overnight in Agra is a major cause for concern. The Supreme Court is seized of crucial issues like declaring Agra a heritage city and imposing restrictions on industrial development. “This has created an uncertainty, as hotels can neither expand nor open new units in the city because of the ad hoc moratorium on industries,” says Agra Development Foundation secretary KC Jain.

“The city’s growth is stunted. This is because of the total lack of futuristic planning,” Anil Sharma, president of the Agra Civil Society said.