Tourism industry loses sheen in diamond city

Lack of proper infrastructure, marketing strategy hinder growth

Despite being a trade and industry hub surrounded by several places of tourist interest, Surat has failed to take off as a favoured tourism destination in the state.

Surat offers a variety of tourist attractions such as scenic beauty, traditional crafts, beaches, good hospitality and a varied tasteful cuisine.

However, in the absence of any marketing and publicity strategy, the city is till unable to attract tourists.

Officials of the Surat branch of the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd, however, refute this charge.

An official of the corporation said, "There is hardly anything in Surat that can be promoted as a tourist attraction. It has the Dumas beach, but it a muddy beach. It also has the Ubhrat beach, but it is dangerous and unfit for swimming."

The official said, "We have the Sarthana Nature Park and Zoo in Surat. There are also attractions such as the Dutch Cemetery, the historical Mughalsarai (which houses the municipal corporation's main office today), the century-old Hope Bridge, Old Fort, Iskcon Temple and Ukai Dam. But no tourist would travel to the city only to visit these places."

Another official said, "As compared to places like Saurashtra or Gir, Surat has nothing much to offer to tourists, which is the only reason why the city does not exist on the tourism map. Several tourists visit places like Daman and Saputara, which are not very far from Surat. But hardly any of these tourists come to the city."

He said, "Dumas Beach is a good place. It can be developed into a major attraction, at least for the people of Surat. We had asked for land to undertake development near Dumas. we are yet to get any response from the government."

Additional district collector J B Vora said, "We receive demand for land from various quarters. We would like to extend all the help to the tourism department.

"They have made a request for land, but not given any details about their project. The request can be considered seriously only if the department puts forward a specific plan."

To create awareness about the rich history and cultural heritage of Surat, the municipal corporation had started a 'Surat Darshan' tour a year ago. As part of this, tours were organised to various historic monuments of the city.

This service was, however, stopped abruptly, by the corporation.

A tourism department official said, "Surat Darshan was a good way of promoting the city as a tourist attraction. After the service was closed down, we had expressed willingness to restart it, but we are yet to get any reply."

A large number of people from Surat tour other places in Gujarat and the country, but there is no inflow of tourists into the city.

Surat lacks proper infrastructure and good facilities for tourists.

There are hardly any good hotels in Surat.

The tourism department has set up hotels at various places in the state, including Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Palitana, Junagadh, Dwarka, Kutch, Bhuj, Saputara and Tithal but has no plans to set up a hotel in Surat.