India wants to make it to the top 10 in the international tourism market, then it will have to revamp its strategies and re-woo its tourists. In 2011, the need is to highlight the potential areas within the country and court the new tourist. 2. "Indian tourism will soar by 15 to 20%" says Rajji Rai, President of the 2448
member Travel Agents Association of India. TAAI's interests lie in handling both visitors crossing international borders as well the growing ranks of Indians travelling around India. This distinction between foreign and domestic tourists is important.
Judging by published statistics, our efforts to attract foreign tourists have been consistently unsuccessful. Both Malaysia and China entered the international tourism market decades after we did. In 2009, Malaysia was ranked ninth with 23.6 million foreign arrivals. In the same year, China was 4th with 50.9 million visitors. India did not appear in the first 10 because we managed to attract just 5.1 million tourists.
Future, tense?
All of which begs the question "What makes the Tourism Industry take a rosy view of the future?" It does so because it has realized that it has been courting the wrong tourist. No longer must it run after the brash, demanding, camera-bedecked foreigner trickling in from recession-hit economies.
Future, tense?
All of which begs the question "What makes the Tourism Industry take a rosy view of the future?" It does so because it has realized that it has been courting the wrong tourist. No longer must it run after the brash, demanding, camera-bedecked foreigner trickling in from recession-hit economies.
The New Tourist is the well-heeled, tolerant, eager Indian: keen to discover India, impatient to go abroad.
Mining this market are former Travel Corporation of India employees now in Trail Blazer Tours. According to its brisk and affable CEO, Homa Mistry, in the three brief years of their existence, they have doubled their business every year particularly to the new markets of China, Russia and South America. Indian travelers are also signing up for cruises to exotic destinations in sybaritic comfort.
Mining this market are former Travel Corporation of India employees now in Trail Blazer Tours. According to its brisk and affable CEO, Homa Mistry, in the three brief years of their existence, they have doubled their business every year particularly to the new markets of China, Russia and South America. Indian travelers are also signing up for cruises to exotic destinations in sybaritic comfort.
Karnataka, too, was quick to assess that the rapidly changing demographics of India had blurred the line between the assumed needs of foreign tourists and those of our domestic ones. The state's glamorous Golden Chariot Tourist train, designed for foreigners, now also does a shorter Jewel of the South tour for upper-middle-class Indian tourists. Said Vinay Luthra, the MD of the Tourism Development Corporation, "Money does not seem to be a constraint with domestic tourists interested in the Golden Chariot"
The state's very successful, and luxury class, Jungle Lodges and Resorts has, however, created a no-frills clone in their Jungle Camps and Trails for a younger clientele, tapping the growing ranks of junior executives still low on the corporate totem pole. Karnataka has, thus, broadened the base of its domestic tourism
market and set another bench-mark.
So, too, has Kerala. Kerala's God's Own Country campaign was clearly designed for the foreign market. But now, Dr. Venu, Kerala's Secretary, Tourism and Culture, has deliberately shifted his focus. In '06-07 Kerala targeted 60% international and 40% domestic, and allocated their tourism resources accordingly. Now that has been reversed. By organizing Partnership Meets between Kerala's tourism stakeholders and tourism professionals in non-metro cities all around India, Kerala has managed, very successfully, to bypass the slump felt by states dependent on international visitors. "We provide a strictly Business to Business platform in the cities we visit. It's been very successful: our tourism figures have grown while those of states dependent on the fickle, demanding, overseas market have remained static," Venu said.
This is, logically, a good strategy. In 2009, when we received 5.11 million foreign tourists, 11.07 million Indians went to tourist destinations outside India. If our Union Ministry of Tourism concentrates on improving facilities for the domestic traveler, the outflow of tourists and rupees will diminish. Enhanced infrastructure such as roads, airports, hygiene, will also attract more international visitors.
This is, logically, a good strategy. In 2009, when we received 5.11 million foreign tourists, 11.07 million Indians went to tourist destinations outside India. If our Union Ministry of Tourism concentrates on improving facilities for the domestic traveler, the outflow of tourists and rupees will diminish. Enhanced infrastructure such as roads, airports, hygiene, will also attract more international visitors.
Madhya Pradesh saw this writing on the wall years ago. Its brilliant Heart of India campaign and current finger-shadows version, overseen by its former Executive Director, Guru Chahal, targeted the domestic traveler. According to Hari Ranjan Rao, MD of the MPTDC: "We have the attractions. When we have the
infrastructure.. a good network of roads, for instance… domestic tourists will flock
in. The others will follow."
infrastructure.. a good network of roads, for instance… domestic tourists will flock
in. The others will follow."
According to the authoritative trade publication, TravBiz Monitor, the States and Union Territories reported that more than 650 million domestic tourists had visited them in 2009. Contrast that with the insignificant 5.11 million foreign tourists we managed to attract in the same year.
Clearly Tourism, like Charity, begins at home.
