Mumbai Commissioner of Police Subodh Kumar Jaiswal on Friday said that stakeholders at all levels of the tourism industry need to be shaken out of their ‘ chalta hai (anything goes) attitude’ and made aware of the fact that westerners are not fair game.
Mr. Jaiswal was the chief guest at a panel discussion titled ‘Tourism — Safety and Security’ organised by the Indian Merchants’ Chamber on Friday. The other panelists were Additional Commissioner of Police (Protection and Security) Nishith Mishra, Neela Lad, Regional Director, Ministry of Tourism, Maharashtra; Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, President of the Hotel and Restaurant Association, Western India and Karan Singh Anand, Head, Relationship, Cox and Kings and senior IMC officials and the discussion was moderated by Sheldon Santwan, Editor and COO, Hospitality Biz, India.
Presenting the law enforcement’s point of view on tourism, Mr. Jaiswal said that while it was the police’s responsibility to realise that a single crime against a foreign tourist can severely impact the footfalls in a particular region, it is also the tourism industry’s responsibility to make every guide, travel agent and hotelier realise that this industry is their bread and butter.
“Whenever there are complaints of misbehaviour against our personnel, we deal with them with the full force of the law. Similarly, there is a need to invest in the training and development of stakeholders to make them realise that the ‘ chalta hai attitude’ that is prevalent today has to go.
The main concern of foreign tourists coming to India is not that they will be targeted in street crimes but that they will be fleeced by agents or tour guides,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
The impact of a single crime against any foreign tourist, be it molestation, assault, theft or robbery, on the tourism industry was also discussed and Mr. Santwan, Ms. Lad and Mr. Mishra opined that the news media projects only negative incidents and not the positive work done, leading to an unfair view of the country. Mr. Jaiswal, however, differed and said that in a country that has free media, it would not be correct to expect the media to not report incidents.
“There is a need to inculcate the feeling among the junior most stakeholders that westerners are not fair game. I head a force of 53,000 personnel and am responsible for their conduct. Similarly, the tourism industry must inculcate new attitudes and values among stakeholders. In a majority of crimes against foreign tourists registered so far, there were people from the tourism industry involved,” he said.
Ms. Lad spoke about initiatives undertaken by the Tourism Ministry, including training sessions for taxi drivers plying at airports, and assured Mr. Jaiswal that the Mumbai Police’s 100 helpline and their Twitter handle would be mentioned in the Ministry’s publications so that tourists are aware about all their options.
She also suggested appointing retired police officers as Tourism Police, the way it is done in Uttar Pradesh, Mr. Jaiswal said that it would not be possible as it was “simply a question of finances.”
