The land of camels and sand dunes is getting a facelift. Having survived the slump in global tourism and the worst drought in decades, the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC) is getting off its camel with which it has seduced the world for almost 25 years and is going stylish — that too with a range of bright new colours.Almost 18 months after a communication strategy advisory was drawn up and numerous trips abroad, the first campaign is ready and will be unveiled soon. ‘‘The underlying theme now will be the vibrancy and colour of Rajasthan,’’ explains Tourism Commissioner Rajiv Swaroop. ‘‘We went in for a new brand and this is the right time to unveil it.’’ The department’s decision comes 25 years after Mand singer Allahjilai Bai’s ‘‘Kesaria balam aao na, padharo maro desh’’ inspired tourism officials to invite the world to Rajashtan in a very traditional manner — beaming the silhouette of a camel against a red backdrop across the world, inviting travellers with the punchline Padharo Maro Desh. ‘‘The idea was simple,’’ explains Munnalal Goyal, former Rajasthan tourism secretary. ‘‘In 1977, we thought a traditional welcome would be the best way to invite tourists. Everywhere you go, people invite you in with padharo sa. We wanted to do the same.’’ It worked for a few years, but now officials say it isn’t good enough. ‘‘Half the people don’t understand what it means,’’ says Swaroop. ‘‘The campaign is for those outside Rajasthan and our feedback is that most people never figured out what the logo meant.’’So the camel and sand dunes get replaced by Rangeelo Rajasthan. ‘‘It amounts to the same thing. The focus should be on what the logo has to achieve,’’ says general secretary of Indian Heritage Hotels Association Randhir Vikram Singh. ‘‘When such a thing was planned it would have been a great idea to debate the thing openly.’’ But irrespective of the sentiments attached to the camel and the industry, a substantial part of the department’s 13-odd crore budget will be used in publicity.And to make sure their ‘‘new and expensive’’ campaign works, the department has also wriggled out of the state’s Samvad Advertising Agency which deals with advertisements of all government departments. The decision to change comes in the wake of static numbers and acknowledgement of the fact that the state was slowly losing its charm. Tourism Department officials agree their dependence on the ‘‘camel and the desert’’ was taking them no where. ‘‘We just let things slide for too long,’’ admits an official. ‘‘We just believed tourists would come.We got a jolt only when we saw states like Kerala and Uttaranchal overtake us and grow phenomenally.’’
