Yoga is India’s gift to the world that holds the promise of self-realisation and as a science seeks to keep the body, mind and soul in concert. “Properly marketed, yoga has the potential to draw in a significant number of travelers,” the Draft Tourism Policy of the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India states.
Replying to a question over how yoga is enhancing India’s image as a tourism destination, Mita Kakkar, Jaipur-based Yoga Instructor and Trainer, says that India is the hub of some of the unique alternative healthcare practices like Yoga, Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Naturopathy etc.. “These alternatives provide motivation to foreigner to visit India. Nowadays, Yoga is the main preference. India provides complete facilities like trained and articulate Yoga teachers, well equipped Yoga centers which are required by the tourists. There are a growing number of convenient, low cost non-stop flights, luxury hotels and resorts, developed highways, natural and artificial attractions. All these results in inexpensive tour packages to India, which attract people from the world,” she adds. Kakkar has trained more than 1,000 students in less than two years from all over the world.
According to her, Yoga tourism is the latest trend as it includes both treatments as well as tourism. What is favourable to India is that there is an availability of English speaking staff at Yoga centers. “This is one of the main advantages because it attracts many English speaking tourists from different countries. Whereas, countries like Thailand, China etc are lacking this quality,” she opines and adds with the involvement of private sector offering holistic Yoga packages, it is easy for tourists to visit India for Yoga.
The popularity of Yoga is evident with the fact that when the United Nations passed the resolution of celebrating June 21 as the World Yoga Day in December 2014, all 193 countries of the world passed it unanimously, and as many as 177 countries co-sponsored it.
