Incredible India not too credible among tourists
The Incredible India campaign has helped attract just 4.4 million inbound tourists a year.
By Vishakha Talreja & Moinak Mitra, TNN |
NEW DELHI: The Incredible India campaign has helped attract just 4.4 million inbound tourists a year but tourism minister Ambika Soni is gung-ho about India’s tourism potential, claiming that the country’s growth rate is among the highest in the world.
For the record, China attracts 49.6 million tourists every year. On the occasion of World Tourism Day, she insists the idea was not just to target 10 million inbound tourists by 2010 but get ‘repeat tourists’ by offering differentiated products such as cruise, tea-tasting and medical tourism.
India will also be promoted as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition) destination to tap the $280-billion global MICE market. Also in offing is the government’s endeavour to develop 15 world heritage destinations, with Rs 25-crore investment per site.
India’s share in the world tourism market (international tourist arrivals) is a paltry 0.52%. The country does not even figure among the top 10 tourist destinations. By the end of this year, India will hopefully touch the 5 million-mark for inbound tourists. “We are focussing on both mass tourism as well as upmarket tourism,” she says.
The minister is bullish about growth in domestic tourism too. “We have 400 million domestic tourists and have to ensure that we have infrastructure for them too,” she says. She feels pilgrim tourism and visiting friends and relatives is a key to the growth of domestic tourism. But all this is possible with safety couch to boot.
Ergo, sensitivity campaigns have been chalked out to sensitise citizens on the delicate nuances of the sector. Around 11 states have already put tourism police in place so that there’s no harassment to visitors.
Currently, India has 110,000 hotel rooms and is short of 150,000 rooms. “Till two years ago, occupancies were around 50%, reason enough for hotel rooms not to be built. As the Ministry of Tourism is now a part of National Infrastructure Committee, the policies are in place,” she says.
She is enthusiastic about the Bed & Breakfast scheme (home-stay policy) and feels it will help the middle class, who have rooms to spare, in generating additional income. “The Bed & Breakfast scheme is especially going to be very helpful in the North-East where there are hardly any branded hotels,” she adds.
The Open Sky Policy has helped in encouraging tourism too. With the development of 35 non-metro airports, things are slated to get better. But will Delhi and Mumbai continue being the entry points for foreign tourists?
“Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and Goa too are becoming entry points, with increased connectivity,” she adds. Plans are also ripe to make India a shopping destination. Four shopping festivals will be organised next year in Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Noida and Bhubaneshwar.
For the record, China attracts 49.6 million tourists every year. On the occasion of World Tourism Day, she insists the idea was not just to target 10 million inbound tourists by 2010 but get ‘repeat tourists’ by offering differentiated products such as cruise, tea-tasting and medical tourism.
India will also be promoted as a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibition) destination to tap the $280-billion global MICE market. Also in offing is the government’s endeavour to develop 15 world heritage destinations, with Rs 25-crore investment per site.
India’s share in the world tourism market (international tourist arrivals) is a paltry 0.52%. The country does not even figure among the top 10 tourist destinations. By the end of this year, India will hopefully touch the 5 million-mark for inbound tourists. “We are focussing on both mass tourism as well as upmarket tourism,” she says.
The minister is bullish about growth in domestic tourism too. “We have 400 million domestic tourists and have to ensure that we have infrastructure for them too,” she says. She feels pilgrim tourism and visiting friends and relatives is a key to the growth of domestic tourism. But all this is possible with safety couch to boot.
Ergo, sensitivity campaigns have been chalked out to sensitise citizens on the delicate nuances of the sector. Around 11 states have already put tourism police in place so that there’s no harassment to visitors.
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Currently, India has 110,000 hotel rooms and is short of 150,000 rooms. “Till two years ago, occupancies were around 50%, reason enough for hotel rooms not to be built. As the Ministry of Tourism is now a part of National Infrastructure Committee, the policies are in place,” she says.
She is enthusiastic about the Bed & Breakfast scheme (home-stay policy) and feels it will help the middle class, who have rooms to spare, in generating additional income. “The Bed & Breakfast scheme is especially going to be very helpful in the North-East where there are hardly any branded hotels,” she adds.
The Open Sky Policy has helped in encouraging tourism too. With the development of 35 non-metro airports, things are slated to get better. But will Delhi and Mumbai continue being the entry points for foreign tourists?
“Amritsar, Thiruvananthapuram, Bangalore and Goa too are becoming entry points, with increased connectivity,” she adds. Plans are also ripe to make India a shopping destination. Four shopping festivals will be organised next year in Hyderabad, Aurangabad, Noida and Bhubaneshwar.
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