Explain the Role of History in Tourism.

Generally history is offered as a product in tourism. History figures prominently in promotional literature. Many destinations have always been promoted through their historicity like Jaipur, Pink city, City of Palaces, Fatehpur Sikri etc.

Similarly in travel writing, history is a popular theme to write upon and it can be the history of many things destination, fort, palace, art and crafts, people, airline etc. But most of these writings do not differentiate between history, mythology and legends and on many occasions distortions are put in as history and the element of evidence is totally ignored. This is also common among guides while describing monuments etc. These distortions take place due to lack of awareness about scientific history and dependence on unauthenticated history books.

Intentionally in order to propagate one’s own bias and interpretation of history. But otherwise history plays an important role in the area of Indian Tourism an India is primarily a cultural destination in the international tourism,  in these are the features of India marketed as a tourism product in the international circuit.

Not only in the international tourism but in domestic tourism also history and its by products remain prime attractions. People often plan their trend to have a feel of their cultural heritage along with several other interests. So the tourism is the most important area today where history seems to become operative as an attraction, the pull factor or product for the consumption of the tourists.

As a tourism product it figures in the:

• Promotional literature,
• Travel and tourism writing,
• Descriptions and interpretations provided by the guides and escorts.

Offering historical destinations and museums as travel packages has been an old trade with tourism industry. With the growth of special interest tourism the relevance of history has further increased.

In many cases fairs and festivals have also emerged as strong tourist attractions because they provide a good example of continuity and change. The age old rituals, traditions and customs are located in modern ambience in these fairs and festivals. History also figures in the shopping and entertainment because many tourists want to know the history of designs and styles etc. of jewelry or craft items. Thus, history is very important for the Indian tourism.