Increasing Spiritual Tourism

Not 10 ways -- Just ONE Prepared by: Rahul Dewan; Twitter: @rahuldewan

Backpacking Western Tourists● Backpackers from Israel, Germany, France, S. Korea

have no objections to the ‘tough’ conditions in India

● They come looking for ‘spirituality’; and do not mind the

materialistic chaos

● They work their way through uncomfortable buses,

crazy honking on roads

Backpacking Western Tourists● India is already a ‘spiritual hub’ for them

● But they cannot deal with “dirty, filthy smelly, poorly

maintained toilets”

● Most foreign tourists simply ask for:

○ Clean Western-style Toilets

○ Access to Toilet Paper

Let’s bring Clean Toilets to them● We cannot change the ‘Indian type toilet’ infrastructure

overnight

● Let’s just give them ‘clean toilets’ first

● Start a “toilet cleanliness rating” for all restaurants

● “Sulabh Shauchalaya” requires massive expansion

Poor Toilet Hygiene in Restaurants● You walk in to Barista, Cafe Coffee Day, big eating food

chains, etc

● Amidst imported Sofas in the lounge, there are tiny,

dirty, water-leaking toilets even in big brands

● Even the smallest of eating place in Europe or USA has

a clean toilet

Poor Toilet Hygiene in Restaurants● Yes, part of it is the poor toilet hygiene Indians have

● But a large part of it is because of “poor toilet-hygiene”

consciousness among restaurant owners, food chains,

stores, and even malls

● By giving poor toilet infrastructure, these public places

create a vicious-circle with people’s poor toilet habits

Example of Delhi Metro● People’s habits change with a “cleanliness

consciousness” -- Delhi Metro is a pristine example

● No paan spits, no garbage, no spitting on tracks -- by

the sample people

● Delhi Metro changes that consciousness of the same

people

Restaurants can do this too● Create an economic incentive for restaurant owners to

have better, bigger, cleaner and well-maintained toilets

● Give them a “toilet hygiene ranking”

● Make this ranking public and accessible on a portal; and

on mobiles through Apps

● Crowd-source this ranking via the website and Mobile

apps

Upgrade Sulabh Shauchalaya● What started as a wonderful initiative has degenrated

● The toilets at all Delhi Metro stations maintained by

Sulabh Shauchalaya are to be seen

● They are all in horrible, unusable state

● Western-toilet seats are usually broken or dirty

● Indian-style toilets have water and unwashed excreta

Upgrade Sulabh Shauchalaya● Liquid soap bottles are mostly empty

● Same story repeats at other Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets

around the country

Upgrade Sulabh Shauchalaya● Liquid soap bottles are mostly empty

● Same story repeats at other Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets

around the country

Upgrade Toilets at Train Stations● The state of Sulabh Shauchalaya is repeated at public

toilets at all Train stations

● Give them the same cleanliness ranking

● Make this part of the job-function of the “Station Master”

-- and a reflection of his work

● Make available a public complaint system

Upgrade Toilets at Train Stations● Make available a “public complaint system” -- on the

same website being created for Restaurants

● Complaints against poor toilets should reflect the

“performance measures” of the Station Master

Publicize this ranking & portal● Create awareness among foreign tourists about using

the website and mobile app, through

○ advertisements at airports,

○ ads on social networking websites

○ creative TV ads on BBC/ CNN/ Al-Jazeera/ Nat Geo

and Discovery channels

● Have an “Incredible India” campaign around this change

Facing national shame courageously● If our Prime Minister can talk about poor toilet hygiene

from Red Fort, then the nation can well accept and

overcome the shame of publicly advertising clean toilets

and actually proudly speak about the change we want to

bring