With Saudis averse to traveling to the West, and now the Far East due to the tsunami devastation, India is likely to become a top destination for them.
There is already an ongoing “Incredible India” campaign, which was launched last year, touting the country’s rich tourist places plus its mystical, spiritual and healing traditions.
And despite the recent tsunami that has hit only a part of the southern Indian coastal belt, the results are beginning to show. During the vacation period in the past one-month, India has registered a big jump in tourist arrivals.
Tourists traveling to India have jumped by nearly 26 percent from last year and the number is expected to cross three million this year. It is a relatively small figure for a vast country of more than one billion people with tourism holding one of great hopes for a brighter future.
Foreign-exchange earnings, too, have shown a nearly 40 percent rise in 2004, official statistics show. India’s earnings from tourism were $4.3 billion between January and November 2004, compared to $3.1 billion for the same period last year.
With economic reforms continuing apace and tourism no longer considered by the government as an elitist sport, robust growth was predicted again for 2005. Another billion dollars tourism income is foreseen for the coming year.
“Tourist figures are looking up, especially after the way the travel magazines are raving about India,” Federal Tourism Minister Renuka Choudhury is quoted to have said recently.
Conde Nast Traveler has ranked India sixth among the world’s top 10 destinations in its annual readers’ traveler awards. India won top points for its cultural diversity, hospitality and good value for money.
Lonely Planet Online, the website of the guidebook series, describes India as among the top five international holiday destinations along with Thailand, Italy, Australia and New Zealand.
The Incredible India campaign focuses on the country’s scores of small, largely unexplored tourist spots, as well as India’s traditional healing arts.
“We want to push wellness and spiritual tourism in a big way. We want visitors to spend a few days at an Ayurveda spa and go back rejuvenated in mind and spirit,” Choudhury said.
Ayurveda is an ancient Indian healing practice that uses herbal remedies.
However, India’s infrastructure is still woefully inadequate, and Choudhury concedes that a lot needs to be done.
The plan also involves projecting lot more destinations, those not projected earlier, some lesser-known ‘secrets of India’ places, including in places in the northeast.
At least 22 airports are being upgraded, with better signs, modern toilets, lounges and duty-free shops.
Mission is to market India as a brand. Armed with its recently released Taj-centric calendar and the mantra ‘the customer (tourist) is king,’ the Tourism Ministry is banking on India’s kaleidoscopic colors to attract tourists.
From now on, it won’t just be the golden triangle of Agra, Jaipur and Delhi and Kerala, as well as Goa. Promoting all of India’s colors the new thrust of the Tourism Ministry. In its newfound attempt to aggressively market the country to the world, the driving force for officialdom is to make India ‘custom made’ to suit the demands of tourists.
The Tourism Ministry’s new calendar celebrates 350 years of the Taj. Besides, with the Taj being in its 350th year, the calendar provides a fitting ode to the monument, featuring the Taj as the backdrop, against which scenic shots like the backwaters of Kerala, camels wading through water decked in Rajasthani finery, India’s colorful textiles, bangles and necklaces have been juxtaposed. The idea is to present India as a land of incredible colors.
Between April 2005 and March 2006, the ministry plans to provide training and orientation to around 26,000 people, including taxi-drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police and restaurant-owners. The idea is to provide the best possible welcome to tourists. Delhi, Bombay, Jaipur, Goa and Aurangabad will be covered by the first phase of this campaign. The aim is to eventually build up Indian tourism as a brand, as a hallmark of quality.”
The tsunami disaster, which claimed at least 9,000 lives, has had no visible impact on the inflow of foreign tourists. This is because only the southeastern tip of India is affected by the tsunami. The rest of India is safe.
The tourism industry accounted for 4.9 percent of GDP and 5.6 percent of employment in 2004. India accounts for less than 0.5 percent of world tourist arrivals.
The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, one of the worst-affected by Dec. 26 tsunami disaster with at least 4,500 dead, saw an impact on foreign tourist arrivals although they were working to limit the damage.
So far there are no major tourist cancellations. The coastal areas are affected, but life is normal in most of the Tamil Nadu state.
Eight out of every 10 tourists in India are Indians, a major factor in support of a degree of optimism.
Tamil Nadu’s neighboring Kerala state, which was slightly affected by tsunami, is also returning to its status as an idyllic green eco destination.
India’s sunshine state Goa on the western coast escaped damage, with tourist officials claiming that the state is absolutely safe. So far the tsunami does not seem to have affected India, according to Shyam Suri, secretary general of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurants Association of India.
Meanwhile, India’s national carrier Air-India is expanding its fleet. It is negotiating with banks to help finance the acquisition of 50 new long-range aircraft. The new orders will comprise ultra-long range aircraft, medium capacity long-range 350-seater planes and medium capacity long-range 250-seaters. The initial deliveries of the aircraft are expected in 2006.
Apart from the long-range planes, Air India has also firmed up a plan to acquire 18 short-range aircraft at an estimated cost of $1 billion for its proposed low-cost carrier called Air India Express. The budget carrier is expected to make its first flight on March 27.
Moreover, the fact is that the tsunami has not taken the life of a single foreign tourist in India’s affected region. Also, India does not figure among the countries worst hit by the tsunami.
“Tsunami is not like the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) scare. An earthquake is a natural calamity and can happen anytime, anywhere. It is a one-time affair,” a tourist official said, adding that mainland India is all right and safe. There is no scare and there is no end to tourist attractions.
The Indian travel trade believes that India can in fact tap the tourism market to its benefit. As other South East Asian countries take time to recover, India can be an alternate destination for tourists.
Many policy decisions like low cost carriers and allowing domestic airlines to fly outside will go a long way in promoting tourism in 2005. Also, eco-tourism being the flavor of the future the need is for its sustainable development.
