Jane Goody can help 'Incredible India' !
Jane Goody, the contestant on the now infamous show 'Big Brother' has been thrown out of the show by the U.K audience (she ragged Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on the reality show) and having got out, she's now "embarrassed" the Indian Govt., by accepting the offer made by the tourism dept. of India to visit India "to partake of and understand India's rich diversified composite culture." The Times of India reports that since Jane has now accepted the offer publicly in an interview, tourism officials are now squirming in their seats and that the Tourism minister Ambika Soni and the Congress party are not to happy with the advts. which were released.
When the Indian press reported the release of the adverts. at the height of the controversy, I was seriously impressed by the alacrity shown by the ministry in riding this wave of public interest about the show and Indians, and using it to promote tourism in India. But it now seems that my earlier opinion , that entrepreneurship and Government are oxymoronic in nature, still holds. Had this not been the case, the Govt. would have jumped at this opportunity and continued to ride the massive wave of publicity that has been generated. It would have been to desirable to hire a good event mngt. firm, televise Goody's travels in India widely, shower her with the best of hospitality and then get her to speak positively about her experiences during her tour.
Doing this would not only help the cause of better race relations (Goody has already tendered an unconditional apology about her behaviour) but more importantly, create an awareness about India among a section of U.K population that would, in the normal course, never have thought about visiting India, for a holiday.Spending five to ten thousand pounds on Jane goody can easily fetch us a few hundred tourists, who will spend , many time the same amount, immense good will plus invaluable P.R for India and its tourism potential.
When the Indian press reported the release of the adverts. at the height of the controversy, I was seriously impressed by the alacrity shown by the ministry in riding this wave of public interest about the show and Indians, and using it to promote tourism in India. But it now seems that my earlier opinion , that entrepreneurship and Government are oxymoronic in nature, still holds. Had this not been the case, the Govt. would have jumped at this opportunity and continued to ride the massive wave of publicity that has been generated. It would have been to desirable to hire a good event mngt. firm, televise Goody's travels in India widely, shower her with the best of hospitality and then get her to speak positively about her experiences during her tour.
Doing this would not only help the cause of better race relations (Goody has already tendered an unconditional apology about her behaviour) but more importantly, create an awareness about India among a section of U.K population that would, in the normal course, never have thought about visiting India, for a holiday.Spending five to ten thousand pounds on Jane goody can easily fetch us a few hundred tourists, who will spend , many time the same amount, immense good will plus invaluable P.R for India and its tourism potential.
Labels: CurrentAffairs
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