RIYADH, 11 November — As many as 182,000 foreigners visited India last month, registering a 20 percent increase in tourist traffic to that country after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
This was disclosed at a press conference here yesterday by G. Kanjilal, regional director, Government of India Regional Tourist Office in Dubai. He said 18,000 Saudis visited India last year, representing an 18 percent increase over the previous year.
Overall, the number of tourists from the Gulf states and the Middle East stood at 120,000 last year, up 13 percent over the previous year. The percentage was better than the all-India increase of 1.7 percent up to September.
Kanjilal was in Riyadh as part of the Indian government’s strategy to refocus the tourism promotion campaign for Saudis and other Gulf nationals in the wake of the US tragedy.
K.D. Row, manager, Air-India (Central Province), Amal Ghosh, station manager of Air-India, and Mehboob Peshimam, manager of Jet Airways, were also present.
Kanjilal said that as part of the shift in strategy, the tourist bureau was promoting new spots in the southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
These destinations will be in addition to the ongoing trips to the "Golden Triangle" covering Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.
The media campaign will highlight attractions such as the Muslim culture, wildlife sanctuaries, beach resorts and hill stations.
Special packages have been developed for the tourists in conjunction with Air-India at a special price. Another feature of the promotional campaign was that arrangements had been worked out for accommodating Saudis in apartments to safeguard family privacy.
"The Saudis have seen the West. Now let them see the East. India offers the kaleidoscope of tourist attractions, where you can see the world in a microcosm. You can stay in palaces (now converted into hotels), and enjoy the spectacle of being garlanded by elephants," Kanjilal said, explaining India’s myriad tourist attractions.
Pointing out that the campaign has been launched following the overall slump in the outbound market after the Sept. 11 events, Kanjilal said "in our major markets in the US, UK and Europe, the traffic has been slowed down by cancellations.
Saudi Arabia, along with other Gulf states, will be "the focused market" in the campaign.
Speaking on behalf of Air-India, Row said they had intensive discussions with travel agents on the promotional campaign that will also include familiarization tours for travel agents and journalists.
Referring to the tourist traffic from other Gulf states, Row said there were 24,000 visitors from the UAE, followed by Oman (18,000), Bahrain (about 14,000), and other GCC states.
In addition, Western expatriates were also spending part of their vacations in the beach resort of Goa, India’s prime tourist attraction on the west coast.
Mehboob Peshimam of Jet Airways spoke about the lack of awareness of India’s cultural and touristic heritage.
He said as the leading domestic air carrier, Jet Airways, operates 224 inter-city flights daily covering 44 destinations within the country. Amal Ghosh introduced the speakers.
