Turning India into prime destination will be an uphill task

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

NEW DELHI, India – An important element of the Narendra Modi philosophy of branding has to do with tourism.

NEW DELHI, India – An important element of the Narendra Modi philosophy of branding has to do with tourism. But with less than 7 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) and a lowly 65th rank in travel and tourism competitiveness index of the World Economic Forum, the Modi government has an onerous task on hand to position India as a destination of choice for the worldโ€™s major spending tourists.

How difficult the task is would be apparent should we take a look at the figure of FTAs in Asian countries during 2013. In a recent reply to a question raised in the Lok Sabha, the government revealed that the country ranked at a lowly number 14th among the Asian nations in terms of foreign tourist arrivals. Compare Indiaโ€™s 6.96 million foreign tourists with 55.69 million of China’s and Indiaโ€™s pathetic performance on tourism can be seen. The point to note is that the figure for China increases manifold if one adds 25.7 million visitors to Hong Kong and 14.27 million to Macau with it.

But China is a country that is known for giving inferiority complex to all other nations, including the US. Let us compare the Indian performance with countries having more volatile socio-political conditions and less interesting varieties than China โ€” Turkey, Malaysia, and Thailand for instance. All three had seen 37.8 million, 25.7 million and 26.5 million foreign tourists in 2013. How long will India take to catch up with these countries?

For argumentโ€™s sake let us assume that FTAs to these three Asian destinations are frozen at the 2013 level to allow India an opportunity to catch up. For that India needs to grow, in terms of tourist arrivals, by more than 5 times to reach Turkeyโ€™s level, and just less than 4 times to catch up with Malaysia and Thailand. Given that on an average India had seen increase in FTAs by just about 5% per annum in the last three years, the country must break away dramatically from past policies and take a quantum leap forward to reach the levels of Thailand or Malaysia.

Tourism sector is estimated to have added US$ 7 trillion to the global GDP. It created 266 million jobs, a six million increase over 2012. An estimated 1.1 billion travelled across the globe, a 4.3% increase during the year. Countries like Thailand, where tourism is a major industry, it contributes nearly 17% of the countryโ€™s GDP if one adds tourism’s direct and indirect contributions to the economy. India, in contrast, earned a mere 6.4% of GDP from tourism. If we segregate the contribution only from international tourism the figure will be much less.

The important question is โ€“ can the Modi government market India as a leading tourist destination, at least to this part of the world? The gap between India and well-travelled destinations like Thailand looks difficult to breach. More so since the country had last formulated a tourism policy some 12 years back in 2002. Clearly the promotion of the sector was confined to releasing ‘incredible’ advertisements and sponsoring the love enshrined in the Taj Mahal. If the government is serious about branding India with Narendra Modiโ€™s much-hyped 5Ts, with tourism as a lead contributor, a new paradigm is necessary.

Looking back at the experience of Thailand, a success in Asia, the single most important factor that helped the country emerge as a favoured destination was the development of Bangkok as a major crossroads of international air transportation. Even today, despite competing airports in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok remains as the most visited destination in the world, ahead of London and Paris. Its airport is the most geo-tagged location on Instagram.

In contrast, India did not have any airport matching the global best till the privatisation of New Delhi airport. But the airport building alone does not make the destination attractive. There are many other factors. For instance, the cost of ATF decides if an airlines will use the destination for refuelling. The availability of MRO facility is another critical factor. The ease of availability of connecting flights is another issue. Despite beautification of the terminal, Indiaโ€™s capital remains a laggard. What is more, the airlines complain bitterly that the airport charges more than what is prevailing elsewhere. Delhi is just one example. Mumbai is in no better shape. The least said about the newly refurbished terminals of AAI-maintained Kolkata and Chennai airports, the better it is for the image of the country. When 92% of FTAs come by air, the sorry state of Indiaโ€™s civil aviation cannot boost tourism to โ€˜incredibleโ€™ India.

Connectivity apart, there are several other factors that influence growth of tourism in a country. The World Economic Forum creates its travel & tourism competitiveness index based on these factors. Unfortunately, India is a laggard in most of these, for example factors like policy rules and regulations, health and hygiene, safety and security, ground transport infrastructure and all that is intrinsically connected with travel and tourism (despite a well publicized slogan Atithi Devo Bhava). The task of promoting tourism, therefore, necessitates a comprehensive policy on all these factors dragging the incredibility of India down.

The nodal ministry’s failure to update its plan of action 2002 and its inability to take the states along in the task of tourism promotion give the distinct impression that it might not be able to implement the Prime Minister’s dream. The present figure of FTA to India is pathetic. Out of the 6.96 million, a mere 27.2% come for leisure and recreation, nearly the same number who come to visit friends and relatives. In absolute numbers, this means that less than 2 million foreign tourists come to India for holiday and recreation. The task before the government, therefore, is more critical than creating attractive slogans, nice advertisements and lots of lectures.

Tourism is a low hanging fruit. But to pluck it one needs dedication and expertise. How the Modi administration fares will be a litmus test for the Government.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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