Manoj Gursahani is the Chairman of India's first ecommerce travel portal- TravelMartIndia. Visit the blog for more travel related issues, travel tips and destinations
Guess who's been hailed as the newest PR person for Indo-UK tourism: Shilpa Shetty's impact on INDO-UK tourism
Now knowing Bollywood film actress Shilpa Shetty's career was already on the back-burner, her entry into the British television show was no debacle as it was made out to by the lady and her tear-streaked face confirming and denying (in true filmy fashion, some would say) the effect of a co-contestant's supposedly racist remarks. The image conscious UK government was quick to rise to their defence and that of Shilpa's honor to be fair, issuing statements for not standing by any such cultural issues perpetrators like Jane Goody (the baddie in the show, accused of making unkindly remarks on Ms. Shetty) and rendered their full cooperation in tailing the story via their own substantially roused media counterparts. However, the good news for Indian tourism is that post-the Big Brother TV show publicity, renewed interest in India's spirituality and level of tolerance (we did issue an invitation to Jane Goody to cleanse her impure and overly aggressive thoughts by visiting Indian spa's etc!) have done the rounds for great marketing and the impact on Indo-UK tourism is all hunky-dory- at least on political say-so.
The event that sparked off the debate on the Indo-UK tourism sector being affected by Shilpa Shetty's appearance on the Big Brother TV show was the instance of a 'not-so-nice-name-calling' by a fellow contestant, which comprised allegedly racist remarks. India however, put up a brave front and made a public statement in January that the allegations of racist attacks on actor Shilpa Shetty in a British television show would not impact ties between the two countries, including the Indo-UK tourism sector, which stands to gain a lot by way of India having taken such a generous stand and once again emerging as the land of immense spirituality and magnitude of emotions.
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