India can learn a lot from UAE to promote tourism

Dr. Manmohan Prakash Shrivastava T he objective of any organization’s foreign tour program is to explore a new nation from different perspectives, to explore possibilities in the context of one’s own country and environment, to establish unity, brotherhood, and discipline among its fellow members of different castes and religions.

To forget the differences and to make the relations warm, strong, and to understand and study the best points of the social condition, civilization, culture, development, and technology of the destination country and to implement the excellence of the country in one’s conduct. For these purposes, Lions Club International 3233 G-1 organized a study and entertainment tour of Dubai and Abu Dhabi State of UAE (from 4-9 September 2023). I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to be a part of this tour.

For tourism point of view this country is good for Indians because participation of Indians in the UAE population, business, and development activities is remarkable, secondly the distance of air travel is less and thirdly Hindi is spoken here from the airport personnel to shopkeepers and taxi drivers. The country, despite having few natural resources (only oil, gas, and aluminum) is rich in strong economic conditions and architecture technology etc. Many of the things make this country number one in the world. There is no income tax.

In the name of tax, there is nominal custom duty and VAT tax. I was curious to know how this country manages the fund for development and for that reason I asked the local guide about resource management. His answer was fantastic and appealing. He said that in the absence of corruption, there is no need to impose taxes because the work is done at actual cost and in timelines. Indians can very well understand the meaning of this answer because in India nobody can deny the involvement of corruption and middlemen which increases the cost of the manufacturing unit etc. Not only this, in this country strict laws and punishment against corruption and crimes for every citizen.

Perhaps that is why the progress of this country is also fast moving and time-bound. In my opinion if corruption and crime are eliminated from India, then our country has the potential to quickly achieve the goal of becoming a developed nation. The traffic in UAE is very disciplined and operates at a fast pace. The ruler King has a clear-cut warning message that if anyone does not accept or break the rules of this country, he/she will not have any place in this country. He/she has to leave this country after punishment is over. Can India act like this? On the other hand, in India we often hear that rules are made only to be broken.

The tourist places of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are more manmade than natural. Because nature has not blessed them with unique diversified natural beauty like India. To promote tourism UAE has provided international level hotels, restaurants, amusement parks, safaris, museums, malls etc. Overall, keeping in mind the world cultural diversity, development has been done in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in such a way that it can become a global center of attraction for tourists. Whereas in India the situation is opposite i.e. plenty of naturally beautiful places but there are very few modernly developed. Perhaps that is why the contribution of tourism is less in the economy of the country. Although in the last few years, in India central and State governments has started focusing on giving them a better attractive look, such as Mahakal Lok, KashiVishwanath Corridor, Ram Mandir (under construction) etc.

But in these places nobody can deny the dominance of Pandits, Pandas, and baggers. On the other side crime, robbery, theft, and insecurity cannot be ruled out. Therefore, if India wants to promote tourism, it should also develop world-class tourist places keeping in mind the people of all countries, all religions, and all income groups and make arrangements to provide complete security to the tourists. Dubai and Abu Dhabi is the choice of global tourists because there is neither theft, robbery, drug addiction nor any kind of discrimination. Along with this, the traffic system is advanced, world class, horn-free, police-free, and Zamfree.

There is a network of cameras catching crimes. Transport facilities include bus, taxi, metro, tram, monorail. The rules and regulations are very strict and their observance is the same for everyone from the king to ordinary people and is also mandatory. The tall multistory buildings are unique examples of attractive architectural skills in this country, the cities are systematically settled with good wide roads and highways. The city stays awake till midnight with the glamour, attracting tourists from all over the world and providing safe movement for foreigners (men and women). These points should be kept in mind while developing India as tourist destinations.

Good things noted in this country are no reservation, no preference, no exemption, free education, free medical care, proper guidance and support for employment for UAE citizens. It is the responsibility of the government here to make arrangements for the homeless poor people too. Tourist attractions in Dubai’s include many tallest and attractive multi-storey buildings. Some of them may be namedBurj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Canyon Tower, Museum of the Future, Dubai Mall, Jumeirah Emirates, Yaqoub Tower, Jivora Hotel, Marina-101, Dubai Frame, Atlantis Tower and Hotel, The Marina Torch, Alamus Tower, Paramount Hotel, Ope Ground Tower, Latifa Tower, The National Bank of Dubai, Index Tower, Asian Commercial Tower, Millennium Tower, Colex Tower, Emirates Crown Tower, Marina Gate Vision Tower etc. are prominent as well.

Palm Jumeirah Dubai Creek, The Palm Tree Island, Dubai Internet City, Desert Safari are also attractive. While the main attractive buildings in Abu Dhabi are Sheikh Zayed Mosque, National Oil Company Office, Emirates Palace, Etihad Tower, Aldar Headquarters etc. and Yash Island is also worth seeing. The beauty is that all the buildings are different from each other, appear to be talking to the sky, are unique examples of attractive architectural skills. Both the cities (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) are planned and systematically settled. The country has an attractive palm tree-shaped man-made Island where almost every house has its own personal beach point. It seems that the people of UAE have the skills to build cities in sand and turn the sea into artificial islands, even without the availability of freshwater, they have the technology to convert seawater into fresh water on a large scale.

The energy source is sun (solar energy) and sea (hydroelectric energy). Buildings and streets electricity supply is underground. No web of stars can be seen anywhere like India. I am troubled by the fact that why has this not happened yet in most of the cities in our country? Whereas the technical experts of our country already know that underground wiring (cable) is a good option to prevent theft of electricity and to avoid wastage of electricity due to emission. This tour made us realize that to create the best, honest commitment is required. Temple, Gurudwara, Church, Manjid are all together, there is respect for all religions.

That is why people from all over the world visit here for various purposes, presenting a unique example of unity, brotherhood, discipline, and harmony. In my view, this is the only thing that explains the secret of its development story. Harmony and a peaceful situation in the country perhaps provide enough energy to the king (ruler) for establishing new dimensions in the nation and making this country the leader in the world tourism industry. The cities here keep innovating continuously so that tourists keep coming here again and again. An example of this is that Dubai Creek Tower, which is taller than Burj Khalifa, is under construction in Dubai, and many islands are being developed; the world’s largest casino is also under construction (there is not a single casino yet). It is clear that the people of UAE are ready to partially compromise with their culture to promote tourism. The people here have a good habit that they move forward by learning and not by pulling others’ legs and blocking the path.

The interesting thing is that the people here are also ready to teach others. Here, instead of jealousy, there is a feeling of joy towards those who learn and move forward. Indian tourists, in spite of knowing that nothing is made here in this country, everything comes from foreign countries (many goods are imported from India too), yet they are not able to give up the allure of foreign goods and the temptation to save a few rupees in the purchase of gold, etc. I believe that it is very important to visit a foreign country, understand its culture, science, technology, and development, but in order to save a few rupees purchasing of foreign items is not fair as far as the Swadeshi concept and Atmanirbhar Bharat are concerned. In my view, the Indian and state governments should also give some tax exemption benefit to foreign tourists on the purchase of indigenous products to get global expansion. In this Lions Club tour, members got the mantra to follow the rules and regulations of the country and work for the progress and development of the country with excellence.