Tourism boards across the world have used festivals for generating opportunities to promote tourism. India is following a similar trend and slowly making its mark as a premier ‘Land of Festivals’. In a nation as diverse as India, several cultures have, over the centuries, made India a land of everlasting festivals. Every small occasion, from welcoming the spring or rain and the harvesting of crops, to seeing the full moon, lends itself to joyous celebrations splashed with colours, music, folk dances and songs. Festivals will take you for a holy dip in one of its numerous rivers, or cover you with scented colour, swing you sky high, give you elephant or camel rides, and invite you to joyous day and night-long singing, dancing and feasting.
Realising the potential of festivals and learning form the achievements of world renowned festivals such as the Rio Carnival in Brazil, La Tomatina in Spain and St Patrick’s Day Festivities in Ireland, State Tourism Ministries have, in the recent time, shifted its focus to promoting and showcasing Indian festivals to the world, as well as upping their marketing initiatives for increased domestic footfall.
Every year, the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) seeks to present the myriad facets of Maharashtra’s rich heritage through a series of festivals such as the Elephanta Festival, the Pune festival, Ganesh Utsav, the Ellora Festival and the Kalidas Festival. Adding a new feather to its cap, MTDC recently organised the Konkan and Strawberry Festivals.
The Elephanta Festival 2013 witnessed an increase of 10 to12 per cent in foreign tourist attendance as compared with last year. This number was shared by Jagdish Patil, Managing Director, MTDC. He further stated that festivals play a huge role in defining the state’s culture. “We at MTDC are always thinking of newer festivals and events to make the state more attractive. Last year we had international artistes who participated in the Elephanta Festival, which proves that international markets are aware of Maharashtra.”
To further penetrate the western market, MTDC promoted Diwali at Times Square, USA. Patil revealed that the celebration was a huge success and it helped build curiosity among the public, not only for our state but also the country. The coming years will see an increase in promotion for Fairs and Festival Tourism.
Gujarat is state that has made its mark on the international tourism map by predominantly promoting its fairs and festivals. With an array of celebrations, including the Navratri Festival, International Kite Festival (Uttarayan), Modhera Dance Festival, Bhavnath Fair, Chitra Vichitra Fair, Tarnetar Fair, Bhadrapad Ambaji Fair, Navratri Festival, Lili Parikrama Fair, Shamlaji Fair, Vautha Fair, Kawnat Fair, Rann Utsav, Tanariri Festival and Dangs Darbar Festival, Gujarat is a delight for art and culture lovers. Lauding the efforts and the support given by the Government, Kamlesh Patel, Chairman, Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL), said that they were successful in building a tourism product so impactful with the help of quick clearances, development of infrastructure and increase in connectivity.
“Today we can proudly say that tourism is one of the major source of income in the state. The Navratri festival and the Rann Utsav of Kutch are the most important and internationally renowned festivals. We are paying aggressively promoting fairs and festivals in the state as we have seen an increasing interest and footfall for the same in the state. Every year we launch new and attractive packages designed around the festival circuit for both inbound and domestic tourists,” said Patel.
Known for its elaborate carnivals, music festivals and food festivals, Goa is the ‘It’ place to visit from international as well as domestic tourists. Touted as the Rio de Janeiro of India, Goa is on everybody’s bucket list. This year Goa Tourism will only focus on promoting its festivals, carnivals and events, shared Dilip Parulekar, Minister for Tourism, Woman & Child Development, Government of Goa. “Goa is much more than just a beach destination and moving forward we want to establish it as an events capital of India. The Carnival is the highlight of our state. Our vision is to see that the Carnaval here becomes as popular as the legendary Brazilian Carnival.”
He further stated that, buoyant by the success of festivals in Goa last year, the state is also promoting and packaging festivals and events such as the Cashew & Coconut Festival and other festivals such as Shigmo, Sao Jao, Bonderam and Tirpurari Purnima. “We expect more than 2.5 lakh tourists to participate in the Carnaval this year, which recorded nearly two lakh tourists last year,” he added.
An annual celebration of Indian classical dance and music, the Konark Festival is one of the biggest dance festivals in the country. M R Patnaik, Director Tourism, Govt. of Odisha shared that this festival has established its own unique identity in the sense that eminent artistes of national and international repute participate and perform classical, folk and tribal dances/music of India in the monumental Sun Temple, Konark. “This is a major attraction for international tourists, and we are majorly cashing in on it. Last year, across the five days of the festival, we witnessed a footfall of five lakh people visiting from around the world. I have plans to host many international festivals in other parts of the country,” he added.
Moving forward, the state tourism board will also promote Nava Kalebara festival that is held once in every 12-19 years according to the calculation of the year and date. “It is an ancient ritual associated with most of the Jagannath Temples when the idols of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra, Subhadra and Sudarshan are replaced by a new set of idols. The last festival was held in 1996 and the next will be held in 2015,” said Patnaik.
