Tourism: Footages vs Reality

Are you feeling high in this world? High expectations, high rise buildings, high ambitions, and high-resolution vision of everything!

The incorporated language is called beautification. As we all know beautification projects are often undertaken by city Municipal corporations or Gram Panchayat in rural areas to refurbish their town areas, in order to boost tourism or other commerce. As per the old definition of beautification was the action or process of improving the appearance of a person or place. But nowadays you really don’t need to actually beautify a person or place. You just decide the person or place you want to beautify and the software and creative minds behind cameras will take care of the rest.

Being a “Gujju – Girl” I have explored Gujarat since my childhood and the process is still going on but thought it is hard for me to accept my own state as never before special avatar to promote tourism on social media platforms. My vibrant Gujarat is full of music, stories and scenic beauty, mythological and historical places. The vibrant culture & full of content monuments of Gujarat does not need artificial beautification at all.

There is a difference between Pristine and Blue beaches

Just like me, you must have noticed videos & photos of blue water in Gujarat almost equivalent to The Maldives & Hanauma Bay, Hawaii. When 1st time I saw the blue water of Gujarat’ photos (edited in multilayers ) I was like f*** why till the date nobody discovered it, not even the tourism department? Suddenly authorities found all these beautiful beaches in Gujarat or what? As if someone like explorer Christopher Columbus found Jamnagar, Mandvi, Nargoal, Madhapur beach, and many more. May be satellite suddenly noticed the blue water of Gujarat and ask influencers and not explorers.. Mind it “influencers” to visit these blue beaches and promote tourism for the same. Let me mention one thing very clearly, that I have nothing against tourism or influencers as I myself is one of them. But yes I have a big problem when places and amenities are manipulated just to invite more and more visitors. Massive CC (color correction on video editing table) already sets the different levels of expectation in a person’s mind who is tempted to visit a place post watching a video or photo. But in reality, such influencers might become a punch-bag and should be prepared to withstand and embrace local slang(“Galiyan”). Tourism is yet to develop all beaches a tourist place and trust me beaches in Gujarat’s are clean but not aqua blue.

To Cut Long Story, Short….: “Blue Flag”  doesn’t mean “Blue”

Let’s talk about Sasan Gir,

258 km2 (100 sq mi) is fully protected as a national park and 1,153 km2 (445 sq mi) as a wildlife sanctuary. In the 19th century, the rulers of Indian princely states used to invite the British colonists for hunting expeditions. At the end of the 19th century, only about a dozen Asiatic lions were left in India, all of them in the Gir Forest, which was part of the Nawab of Junagarh’s private hunting grounds. As of now, The count of 2,375 distinct fauna species of Gir includes about 38 species of mammals, around 300 species of birds, 37 species of reptiles, and more than 2,000 species of insects. The main herbivores of Gir are chital, nilgai, sambar, four-horned antelope, chinkara, and wild boar. Blackbucks from the surrounding area are sometimes seen in the sanctuary. Among the smaller mammals, porcupine and hare are common. The carnivores group mainly comprises the Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, jungle cat, striped hyena, golden jackal, Bengal fox, Asiatic wildcat and rusty-spotted cat occur, but are rarely seen. The plentiful avifauna population has more than 300 species of birds. Indian Crocodile Conservation Project in 1977 and released close to 1000 marsh crocodiles into Lake Kamaleshwar and other small bodies of water in and around Gir.

All of the above sound like Jungle. And we actually see almost all these animals on social media promotional posts of influencers who visited Gir. But here is a glitch. Are they showing you

Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) or African Lion(Panthera leo melanochaita)?

I would urge influencers and celebrities to be honest with their viewers.

I also came across a tourism promotional video on social media showcasing a bunch of friends visiting Gir, you check the image next to the text. Campfire blazing brightly in the midst of the Sasan Gir National Park / Sanctuary didn’t care about deciduous forest’s fate in case of fire.

That’s not enough, playing guitar????

At the entrance gate of the you get to see the

“Do’s”

and

“Don’ts”

board. Being literate we must follow the rules and preach others to do the same.