Assessing Tourism Infrastructure in the City of Hyderabad, India
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Assessing Tourism Infrastructure in the City of Hyderabad, India Name: Shriya Rangarajan Capstone Advisor: Prof. Marc Doussard Submission: August 2014 2 There are several people I would like to thank who have helped me put this study together. Foremost, Prof. Marc Doussard, my academic advisor who has been very encouraging throughout the project, providing critical feedback and pushing me to produce better work each time. Several people in Hyderabad who guided me to various resources and who very patiently answered my questions: Ms. Madhu Vottery for providing invaluable help and pointing me towards her book ‘A Guide to the Heritage of Hyderabad’ Mr. Srinivas Rao, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Mr. Mohammad K.K., Aga Khan Trust for Culture Mr. B.S. Reddy, Joint Director of AP Tourism Mr. Owais Ahmed and Ms. Lata Parmar at Shilparamam Mr. Javed Khan, Auto-rickshaw driver and tour guide Mr. Anant Maringanti My colleagues in the Master of Urban Planning program who lent helpful ears as I bounced ideas off them. My mother for proof-reading my writing and listening to Acknowledgements my ramblings at all times of day and night. 3 1. Executive Summary Page 6 1. Introduction Page 8 A. History of Hyderabad Page 8 B. Motivations behind the study Page 9 2. Importance of Tourism in India Page 10 A. Economic Impacts of Tourism Page 10 B. Social Impacts of Tourism Page 12 C. Environmental Impacts of Tourism Page 13 3. Policy Review Page 14 A. National Tourism Policy, 2002 Page 14 B. Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, Updated 2010 Page 16 4. Division of Administration Page 18 A. Centralized versus Decentralized Modes of Administration Page 18 B. Monument Maintenance is a Fragmented Approach Page 19 C. Impact on Cultural Heritage Page 22 D. Schemes for Heritage Preservation Page 23 E. Social Responsibility Page 25 5. Pricing and Equity Page 26 Table of Contents A. Differential Pricing Schemes Page 26 B. Positives and Negatives of Modifying Entry Fees Page 27 C. Equity Considerations Page 29 4 6. Employment and Public Participation Page 31 A. Factors affecting Recruitment and Employment Page 31 B. Role of Training Institutes Page 32 C. Informal Network Page 33 D. Improvements and Recommendations Page 34 7. Tourism Infrastructure Page 35 A. Literature Review Page 35 B. Transportation Infrastructure Page 35 C. Accommodation Page 42 D. Congestion and Overcrowding Page 4 3 E. Services and Amenities Page 44 F. Advertising Page 45 8. Site Visits A. Shilparamam Page 46 B. Chowmahalla Palace Page 47 C. Charminar Page 48 D. Golconda Fort Page 49 E. Qutb Shahi Tombs Page 50 F. Salarjung Museum Page 52 G. Discussion, Improvements and Recommendations Page 52 9. Conclusions Page 54 Table of Contents 10. References Page 57 11. Appendix A: Survey Analysis Page 60 12. Appendix B: Interview Transcriptions Page 68 5 Hyderabad is a city in the Indian state of heritage sites and instead promote their Andhra Pradesh and one of the major preservation through tax incentives and metros in Southern India. The region adaptive reuse. developed as a princely state, independent However, these policies see very poor of British rule until the time of India’s implementation due to a variety of issues independence in 1947 at which time it was including resistance from stakeholders, integrated into the Republic of India. Rich widespread corruption and considerable in history, Hyderabad is the meeting point indifference from authorities. Further, the of North and South Indian traditions and division of authority and administration is cultures and is today, a cosmopolitan city divided among several bodies with little that is home to people of all cultures, cooperation or synergy between them languages and religions be they Hindus, which further makes the process of Muslims or Christians. The city boasts of a administration very difficult. A number of variety of ancient monuments and sites of policies including price structures have not historical and cultural significance that been revised in several years which make was built under the patronage of the them outdated. There is considerable Nizams and the Qutb Shahi dynasty, apathy within these authorities who are including the Charminar and Golconda highly averse to commercializing the Fort which are of national importance as monuments in even a moderate way. For well as a number of other tombs, museums example, most monuments have very low and cultural sites. priced entrance fees so that they be Despite their historical significance, these affordable to all. Entry fees however are monuments face a number of stresses from disproportional to maintenance costs and pollution, people and transportation which the income they generate is insufficient to has caused the accelerated degradation of cover basic maintenance let alone any these monuments. For example, a chunk of other form of investment. the Charminar broke off and fell down This low entry fees has resulted in an which was believed to be due to the high indiscriminate number of people visiting traffic volumes immediately adjacent to on a daily basis which further serves to the monument. stress the monument. With very little There are a number of policies in place to regulation in place, some of these people preserve these structures such as the vandalize the monument with scribbling Ancient Monuments and Archaeological and etchings all over; renovating these is Sites and Remains Act which is targeted at probably cost prohibitive combined with the conservation of ancient monuments general indifference from authorities. Executive Summary and structures as well as national and state Raising prices however brings with a fair tourism policies that seek to harness the share of other issues including equity popularity of these sites and promote them concerns and resistance from citizens who as tourist attractions for revenue. Other consider these monuments a part of their policies adopted by the municipal cultural heritage. corporation at the city level seek to These monuments however have a great 6 prevent the demolition and degradation of degree of potential and can be harnessed convenience. The informal sector is highly as a draw for tourists. Most people who developed and could well be an essential visit from within the country i.e. domestic component for an effective tourism circuit tourists, come for the heritage and in the city. It is however not without its historical draws that the city has. Tourism share of problems including victimization authorities seek to capitalize on this and corruption of its members which popularity by enhancing investment in the needs to be addressed. sector by building infrastructure and The study seeks to identify those training institutes for the hospitality challenges that visitors in the city face, the industry to churn out professionals and shortcomings of the existing infrastructure personnel for the rapidly developing as well as potential interventions and sector. There is however a lack of other policies to address them. These kinds of support infrastructure be it deficiencies were identified via a tourist adequate public transportation, affordable survey taken at popular tourist attractions hotels that cater to all income classes, in the city which identified the main suitable facilities and services on-site or problems with infrastructure and services; advertising and information services. these findings were substantiated by Apart from the formal infrastructure and conducting site visits to major attractions government procedures for tourism, there and monuments and viewing firsthand the also exists an informal tourism economy problems that they face. Aside from this, that functions parallel to the mainstream. interviews were conducted with various This informal sector is highly functional professionals and staff to get information and includes all nature of hospitality on tourism practices and policies in the services that function in an state and direction in which the sector is interdependent, synergistic manner and headed. These were analyzed critically and caters to a completely different recommendations suggested where demographic of lower to middle income suitable. classes, student groups and lone travelers who seek functionality rather than extreme 7 History of Hyderabad Golconda fortress. The center of this newly founded city was the four-minaret Hyderabad is one of the largest cities in monument, the Charminar, from which India and the capital of the Indian state of roads diverged outwards to the city that Andhra Pradesh, the capital being shared was to be Hyderabad. Despite the changes with the state of Telangana which recently that have taken place in the last 400 years seceded from Andhra Pradesh. The growth since, the Charminar and Golconda fort of the city to its present status as one of the continue to serve as icons for the city. largest in India has been meteoric and (Figure 1) colored by the rise and fall of several The Qutb Shahi dynasty was followed by a dynasties. They retained control of the period of Mughal rule before being taken region until after independence in 1948 over by the Nizams in 1724. The Nizams when they joined the Indian republic; were among the wealthiest people in the Hyderabad has, as a consequence world and greatly supported arts, remained relatively free of the influences literature, architecture and food and under of the British rule in India. their patronage, the city flourished both The initial rulers were the Qutb Shahi economically