Commonwealth Games: Govt guidelines for tourists

New Delhi: With less than 100 days left for the Commonwealth Games, the government has come out with a set of guidelines for foreign tourists, including a dress code and respect for local customs.

The guidelines announced by the Centre for safe and honourable tourism say:

• Foreign tourists will be encouraged to adhere to proper dress code and respect local customs
• All hotels and tour operators will train two persons to ensure that all safety norms and guidelines are adhered to
• Organizations will promote awareness on the code among vendors, contractors, taxi drivers, tour guides, event management companies etc
• Those violating the code can be blacklisted

Over one lakh tourists are expected during the Games. The number of tourists coming to India has been growing, but so too are complaints.

"I think Indian men treat Western women a lot differently then they treat Indian women. So that's been a problem in a few places," said Julian, a tourist from the US.

So, is this new set of guidelines the answer?

"We are not the agency which can reign in people, but we are working with authorities to sensitise people including scooter and taxi drivers," said Tourism Minister Kumari Shelja.

"What we see very often that when tourists travel, they see young ladies and they feel like they are in a lawless state because they are far from their countries," said Ms Cristina Albertin, UNODC.

The big question, however, is will this policy and these codes remain just a policy? Or will something be done? Clearly, a lot needs to be done to welcome the huge rush of foreign visitors who are expected to arrive here for the Commonwealth Games.