Renuka: New brainwave

New Delhi, July 19: Army housewives as “informative” tourist guides ? that’s the latest brainchild of Renuka Chowdhury.

The Union tourism minister’s bid to bring nightlife in Delhi may not have taken off last year but Chowdhury is not dismayed.

The daughter of a retired air force officer herself, the tourism minister has hit upon this new idea for gainful employment of the wives of defence personnel that will also meet the industry’s need of good tourist guides.

“There are a lot of tourist spots which are of immense value and high interest in India. However, we face a dearth of good guides. The idea is to meaningfully utilise the hidden potential by engaging the wives of army, navy and air force personnel,” said Rajeev Talwar, the additional director-general in the ministry.

Under the plan, the tourism ministry will offer a three-month training course. It will soon approach the Army Wives’ Welfare Association.

According to Talwar, preliminary talks with Anupama Singh, the wife of army chief General J.J. Singh and president of the wives’ association, have taken place and “she has shown interest in the proposal and wants to take it further”.

“A basic framework needs to be formed to take the matter ahead,” said an army source.

After initiating talks with the army association, the ministry will also meet the wives of air force and navy personnel. “Depending on the feedback and success of this initiative, we may extend this activity,” said Talwar.

Foreign tourist arrivals have risen steadily over the years. Tourist visits rose by 16 per cent in June to reach 252,258 against 217,463 a year ago. Government statistics show that foreign arrivals crossed three million in 2004. Foreign exchange earnings also rose by 22.7 per cent to $447.64 million.

Chowdhury, who spent many years in air force cantonments near Bangalore, and her ministry are trying to boost tourism traffic through a campaign called Incredible India. The idea is to lure tourists away from the Golden Triangle to ski slopes in Kashmir, adventure tourism destinations in Himachal and Uttar Pradesh and the beauty of Kerala.

With the defence services establishing family outposts in rugged and scenic outposts of the country, Chowdhury is hoping that new tourist trails will open up that could be serviced by an army of tourist guides.