A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism- 30 December 2003 ...

3.3. Tourism In Kerala3.3.1. General ObservationsA noteworthy aspect of the Draft Tourism Vision (henceforth DTV) 2025 is recognitionof the role of Panchayathi Raj institutions in tourism development. The visionstatement also visualises sustainable development and sustainable tourismdevelopment. Both these are welcome, and long due in a vision statement, assumingthat the policy document that would follow the vision would hopefully spell outguidelines for translating the participation of PRIs and implementation of aboveconcepts.At the same time the DTV is overenthusiastic about the role tourism would play inKerala’s economy and development. To vision tourism as a ‘core competency sector’,‘the most important sector for the socio-economic development of the state’ and to‘make Kerala Society a tourism society’ etc., are result of extremely limited visionabout the nature of this industry as well as the economy of the state. The DTVoverlooks the fact that tourism is merely a single activity, that too, dependent on toomany variables and uncertainties. (The aftermath of September 11 in the US and itsimpact on global tourism industry is just only one such variable)The DTV in the present avatar provides a free rein to private sector, which isunderstandable considering the open market economic philosophy. But it stops thereabruptly. What it does not take into account, especially while the DTV is targeting thenext quarter century is its lack of visioning to deal with multilateral agreements like theGATS, the consequence of commitments India has committed and thereby under thestranglehold of its clauses. How the department could sustain Indian as well as localtourism service providers and investments against the onslaught of hundred per centForeign Direct Investments (FDIs) and competition from global players in the ‘uneven’level playing ground, the DTV fails to throw any light. It is naïve to assume thatdepartmental protection would be enough safe guard to the interest of national serviceproviders. Conservation oriented laws like the proposed Tourism Conservation bill willalso be superseded if it is conflict with the GATS agreement. Article 1[3] of the legaltext of the GATS which talks of the scope of the agreement mentions that in “fulfillingits obligation and commitments, each member shall take such reasonable measures asmaybe available to it to ensure their observance by regional and local governments andauthorities and non governmental bodies within its territory”. This clearly implies thatthe GATS agreement has precedence if it comes into conflict with national, regionaland local priorities.The DTV in its over enthusiasm seem not to leave a single stone upturned withouttourism development. This would end up as a disaster for tourism industry itself infuture apart from the opposition from the people. Tourists swarming around every nookand corner of the state (the DTV anticipates 7 per cent foreign and 9 per cent domestictourist annual rate growth) would indeed act detrimental to tourism development. Thisis apart from the mass resource consumption, tourism attributed pollution and above allfall in the quality of tourist attractions.A Situational Analysis of Child Sex Tourism in India (Kerala and Goa) 20