The issue of denial of US visa to the Gujarat Chief Minister is being discussed frequently ever since Narendra Modi was not allowed to visit the US in 2005. However, a person from the Uncle Sam’s land is endorsing Modi’s Gujarat wholeheartedly.
Clinton Bauman, an American is trying to put Gujarat on the world tourism map. He is aggressively promoting the State as a major tourist destination in countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and European Union apart from the USA. In his quest, he touched a niche area — textile tourism — which nobody in the past had even thought about.
As a tourist Bauman visited India several times. For foreign tourists, India means Golden Triangle, Kerala backwater and Goa, says Bauman adding, “I found that India is much more than what people generally conceived. There are many things which can attract tourists from all across the world”. During his visit to Gujarat as tourist, he got impressed with textile clusters in Gujarat and decided to work on developing textile tourism circuit in the State.
“In the United States of America, Gujarat means business and Patels. I too was under that impression. But the State has a lot to offer to foreign tourists, especially those high-end visitors who believe in theme-based tourism,” says Bauman.
He admires the Gujarat Chief Minister’s initiative ‘Khusboo Gujarat Ki’ campaign. “I first time saw the promotional campaign in the USA. It lured me to visit places like picturesque Junagadh and traditional Kutch. The campaign done by the actor Amitabh Bachchan is honest and realistic. What is being showcased in the campaign, one would definitely see in reality too, there is no exaggeration,” he said.
According to Bauman, Gujarat is having a rich heritage in textile sector, which is yet untapped. He has worked out itinerary for foreign tourists in such a way that they would not only come across entire gamut of textile sector but they can experience the flavour of Gujarat too. The tourists are being taken to narrow, ancient bustling bazaars, where a group of artisans teaches them extra weft weaving on a pit loom, hand block printing, batik block printing, bandhani, and quilting.He has also clubbed textile tourism with important destinations like Taj Mahal, Khajuraho temple and other exotic places in the country.