Report

132 QUANTIFICATION OF BENEFITS FROM ECONOMIC COOPERATION IN SOUTH ASIA
Like in construction services, there is a reasonable
scope to develop MRAs in tourism services for the free
movement of teachers/trainers and tourism professionals
in all seven SAFTA member countries. These
countries can work out equivalence of qualifications
and negotiate MRAs in the sector. As per the available
information, all SAFTA Asian countries (barring
perhaps Bhutan) have hotel/hospitality management
institutes both in public and private sectors. In this
regard, the initiatives taken by the ASEAN would be a
good example to follow. ASEAN activities to strengthen
human resources development include the following
approaches to cooperation: develop minimum common
competency standards for ASEAN tourism professionals;
develop an intra-ASEAN curriculum exchange
programme with cross-training and cross-certification;
prepare the ASEAN tourism training and education
network directory (ESCAP 2005:15).
Besides MRAs, efforts should be made to create a
common tourism area in the South Asian region. Once
again the ASEAN example can be of some help. ASEAN
has undertaken a number of activities in support of
regional cooperation among its 10 member countries
(ESCAP 2005). ASEAN cooperation in tourism
infrastructure development and investment has included
publishing the ASEAN Tourism Investment Guide and
providing relevant investment information on the
ASEANWEB. Recent ASEAN cooperative activities to
facilitate regional travel include publishing Wonders
of Southeast Asia – An Official Guide to Thematic Tour
Packaging; implementing the Visit ASEAN Campaign;
publishing the ASEAN Map with general information
on major tourism destinations; and drafting the
framework agreement on visa exemption for Nationals
of ASEAN Member States.
In this direction SAARC has also taken a few steps.
According to the SAARC Information Centre, the
technical committee (TC) 10 was established in 1991
to promote cooperation in the field of tourism in the
region. At its first meeting held in Colombo in October
1991, the Committee decided on an action plan on
tourism to promote cooperation in the areas such as
training programmes, exchange of information, joint
promotion, joint venture investment, intra-regional
tourism, etc. It also reviewed progress on the SAARC
Scheme for Promotion of Organised Tourism. Under
TC10, member countries have exchanged information
on training facilities existing in the region and a number
of slots for providing training in the field of tourism
and hotel management were offered. TC10 has decided
to produce joint tourism brochure. Emphasis is also
being placed on the importance of early launching of
the SAARC scheme for promotion of organised
tourism.
As part of SAARC initiatives, efforts are being made
to reduce barriers to regional tourism trade. As already
noted, there are inbound and outbound flows of tourists
taking place among South Asian countries. India is one
of the largest markets for Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Similarly, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan
are markets for India. In 2003, India and Sri Lanka
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to
develop tourism for mutual benefits of two countries.
However, instead of signing bilateral agreements, which
is a very time consuming exercise and instead all
countries should try to sign a common agreement is
they are to reap the benefit from tourism trade.
Tourism offers enormous opportunity to gain at
regional level. India has hotels in Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Bhutan and the Maldives and likewise, Sri Lanka has
motels operating in India. However, there a number of
barriers to the supply of tourism services. Under Mode
1 since India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and
Nepal have some capability in information technology
– though at varying level – warranting all countries to
have no restrictions at all under this mode. Similarly,
there is no reason why any country from this region
should have any restriction under Mode 3. Even if they
have any difficulty they should make this mode barrier
free for SAFTA countries when they expand the scope
of SAFTA by including services. Mode 3 is also
important from the point of view quid pro quo as LDCs
can gain Mode 4 access by offering market access under
Mode 3. A common feature emerging from the region
is that there is a dearth of quality tourism professionals
in almost all South Asian countries.
The South Asian region is far away from important
tourist generating rich countries. This places the region
in a disadvantageous position. In order to overcome
this advantage all economies of the region needs to
integrate to gain from one-another’s markets. Regional
integration will increase the size of markets and will
have multiplier effects on various other sectors. As Sri
Lanka has been doing, all South Asian countries ought
to offer the facility of visa-on-arrival for tourists from
the region. In fact, South Asia will gain most if every
willing person from the region is allowed to enter in all
other countries by just having a valid passport. Some
concessions to the tourists from the region will also go
a long way in creating better business in tourism.