Friends of Indian Tourism

Friends of Indian Tourism
Friends of Indian Tourism is a community that aims to create awareness about the huge potential for tourism in India, and yet, why India attracts a very modest percentage of the world's tourist arrivals every year, and some things that YOU can do to help it. Not the least because, the tourism industry in India can generate millions of jobs...if only you can help...

Tuesday, November 22, 2005 10:40 AM

India is - culturally and historically - easily one of the richest countries of the world, with a phenomenal potential for tourism. While most people know that India accounts for a little less than a fifth of the world's population, few are aware that India attracts only a measly 0.4 percent of the world's tourist arrivals. The statistics are telling. While France has always been a strong favourite with the tourists( 10% of tourist arrivals!), countries like China (currently fourth on the list) and Australia have seen significant increases in the tourist arrivals in the last decade or so.

First, it may be interesting to note that close to half of the world's tourists every year come from Europe. That probably explains why there are quite a few European destinations in the top tourist destinations.

The at-once-obvious logic that tourists seek modern marvels such as the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty is not entirely correct, going by the resurgence in Chinese tourist influx. People would love to see the Eiffel Tower, for sure, but they do have a taste a significant taste for the Eastern flavour, which China, Malaysia, Thailand and the tiny city-nation of Singapore have managed to capitalize on.

What explains India's position then ? What is worth noting with great interest is the fact that India's tourist arrivals have grown at over 15% for the past three or four years. Good, but not great, because it is still way below the potential for tourism that India has been fortunate to be gifted with.

A common refrain is that of poor infrastructure, starting with the roads and the airports that cannot deal with the volumes of international tourist arrivals. That argument may have made sense fifteen years back, not today. Today, India's service industries are booming and the infrastructure is certainly good enough to handle twice or even thrice the current tourist volumes. Besides, its a balance of demand and supply, that is to say infrastructure upgradation beyond a certain point follows the signs of increase in tourist demand and not so much vice versa.

Which brings us to the point that I think is often ignored: Indian tourism ails from a clear lack of awareness of its true tourist potential. You would be surprised how many people from developed countries still think of India as a country with a billion poor people mired in disease, hunger and suffering. Thanks to the outsourcing age, a growing percentage of people in the developed world know of the gentleman on the other side of the phone in India, who is not poor and diseased, but educated and ambitious. But that is still a fraction. In my own personal interactions with a not-so-small number of non-Indians, I was surprised by how many people thought of India as a land infested with snakes, elephants, mysterious illness and what not.

Few of my friends from Europe and the US, however had more realistic images of India. The diversity of the population, the monuments such as the Taj Mahal, the forts and palaces of another era, the incredible geographical landscape and ayurveda - they all figured. And most of the people who knew this much about India, had either been to India, in many cases more than once, or had heard about India from a close friend who had been there. That is fundamentally the point I am making. An awareness of India as a country of plenty to see and do, a uniquely different experience needs to be created. This has to been understood independent of the marketing and propaganda that the Ministry of Tourism deals with. To create awareness is to just let interested people know about the reality, in this case about what an amazing place India is to go as a tourist, and if they do make the trip, you can be sure they will thank you for sowing the seed in their minds.

And creating this awareness and correcting the false impressions will happen by word of mouth and a million people talking about India, by referral rather than a thousands of advertisements.

And this what YOU can do. TODAY. TOMORROW. ANY TIME.

If YOU know a non-Indian as an acquaintance, you could sow in his mind the seed of making a trip to India, which will be a truly unforgettable tourist experience for him.

Some facts :
1. Despite the small number of tourists, the tourism sector is the second largest contributor to the GDP of India.
2. At the current rate of growth, India's tourism industry will employ no less than 25 million people. This is a huge opportunity for the economic growth for millions of families in India.

IF ever you thought of what you could do to help India grow into an economic power, you can make a start by talking to your American friend or your German colleague about what an amazing place India is.

Think about it.

posted by Srihari at 10:40 AM

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