Interesting Article about Indian Tourism

OrangeStreet · Oct 27th, 2009, 16:28

Was scanning through the usual portals for my morning dope of news and stumbled across this piece.

Quite an eye-opening experience about the gravity of the tourism situation.

[Some experts were privately saying that the 'Incredible India' campaign -- huge 'Incredible India' billboards have been mounted in subway stations in Singapore or at other strategic locations in Frankfurt, London or New York -- raised expectations of tourists visiting India, who came back with poor impressions of the country, mainly because of the very high hotel room prices.....]

Here - http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20091027...rom-india.html

capt_mahajan · Oct 27th, 2009, 22:27

Some of those comments may be valid, but the article seems to have been written from the tour operator's point of view (more money to be made from Indian tourists going abroad than the other way round)

India has never had huge tourist numbers. I daresay people who want to come visit will do so anyway. While it may be preferable to have more revenue from foreign tourism (Kerala is threatening to become a cruise ship hub of sorts in India), too much tourism has its pitfalls, as seen in Goa, where a combination of local and foreign factors is at play.

We need tourists, but we don't need more Goas- or areas of HP where drugs connected locals and foreigners cause havoc even today.

So it is a mixed blessing, the lower tourist numbers.

Edit: Must add that the biggest present threat to tourism, domestic or foreign, is the Maoist and such related violence which is happening daily in parts of India. Just today a passenger train was 'hijacked' and released.

Nick-H · Oct 27th, 2009, 23:07

The fact that they speak of the 'outrageous prices' of Indian hotel rooms goes to show that this is the five-star market under discussion.

It is not the case for Brits: our hotel industry is far more outrageous in its pricing (the 'per person' tariff is one of its favourite ways of getting blood out of your wallet). Brits are able to stay in luxury in India that they can't dream of at home.

I'm told though, that India's high-class hotels are expensive to Europeans and Americans.

Last thing I heard, though, was that Chennai's five-star capacity was not up to demand, and it could support another couple of hotels at least, so things can't be that bad. Mind you, there's been a recession since I heard that.

Quote:

We need tourists, but we don't need more Goas- or areas of HP where drugs connected locals and foreigners cause havoc even today.

Isn't that more to do with hotel rooms being outrageously cheap?

Quote:

... where drugs connected locals and foreigners cause havoc even today

Damn... they don't even have a Tuesday holiday?

capt_mahajan · Oct 27th, 2009, 23:25

On hotel rooms, most people paying for 5 star hotel rooms, Indian or foreign, are not paying out of their own pockets. That tourism is more dependant on the state of the economy than anything else.

machadinha · Oct 27th, 2009, 23:28

<cross-posting with Capt.'s latest>

Hm, well. I do think, and you can witness it on this board, too, that for various reasons (it being very easy today to think of or book an exotic holiday at the drop of a mouse click is another) there'll be an increasing segment of visitors being perhaps not all that prepared for what they'll find on the ground in a number of countries. I've said before how Dutch embassy personnel raised the alarm about it some years ago, being inundated by folks worldwide getting themselves into perfectly avoidable trouble or confusions -- and expecting them to come to the rescue at their every whim, something they're simply in no position to do of course, even if they wanted to.

There has been word and for some years that esp. the higher end of the Indian hotel market is getting overstretched yes; so apparently there is an increase in visitors in that sector, and not enough room to accommodate them.

It would then be possible some of those places don't live up to expectations; although on the other hand, I'm quite sure one can still have the 5-star experience with all mod cons in India at a rate that you'd have a hard time getting most anywhere else, indeed.

Well, not sure where I left my point. Just some observations. I guess what I mean is maybe "Incredible India" campaigns abroad are likely to raise expectations that will be hard-met on the ground, indeed. Then again if one has the money, sure it can still be relatively cheap to have the luxury experience there, and not having to be confronted with the heaving masses all the time, at all. That's not even a value judgement of mine, it just is; not every visitor has to have the in-your-face experience some backpackers like me choose to, of course not.

I mean I've had people laugh at me on this board for claiming Mumbai were "expensive"; sure, purely by Western standards, it probably isn't. The cheapest of rooms in Amsterdam and really not much of anything but just above a dorm start at some 80 Euros; so that's Rs. 5500 for a tiny single bed and a shower you can barely turn around in, and really not much more. So I suppose even in Mumbai for let's say that or double it, at Rs. 5-10,000 you could have a most agreeable place indeed. Throw in an aircon car, some fancy restaurants, and etc., at again relatively moderate if not to say insanely cheap rates, it will be literally a different world out there.

Still though, I suppose some may be a little shocked if not appalled at some of the everyday things they'll get to see. And then those monuments aren't always all polished, and... (some of them are so far to drive to, too! Couldn't they have put them a little closer by? And then the heat!)

OrangeStreet · Oct 28th, 2009, 04:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by capt_mahajan

So it is a mixed blessing, the lower tourist numbers.

Valid point.

I think they also need to start thinking from a perspective of ROI as far as tourism is concerned. No doubt its a big market out there and lot of people in India, have livelihood attached to tourism. More so in places like Goa, HP, Kerala, Rajasthan etc. and hence it cant be completely ignored in terms of numbers.

Having said that, from a pure business perspective, do I prefer a backpacker who comes to India, has a limited budget but promotes tourism or rather a business traveler who has a much larger budget and expense and a much larger ticket value, for the lack of a better word. That's the question which needs to be answered at a higher level whilst strategizing a marketing campaign like Incredible India and the likes.

I think the article also refers to a more serious problem which is inflow vs outflow. 20 years back when I was a kid, someone who was going abroad was considered to be of certain significant status. The ratio of inward tourism versus outward tourism was far broader. And unfortunately, not much has been done to increase the inward tourism.

Another important point is that of projecting an image of urban, suave India and the ground reality being a lot different. I think this trait comes in quite naturally to us Indians. Over commitment and under delivery.

capt_mahajan · Oct 28th, 2009, 09:07

Quote:

from a pure business perspective, do I prefer a backpacker who comes to India, has a limited budget but promotes tourism or rather a business traveler who has a much larger budget and expense and a much larger ticket value, for the lack of a better word.

True from a business perspective, though I find backpackers more interesting

Quote:

Over commitment and under delivery

sounds like an unwanted pregnancy

Brisso · Oct 28th, 2009, 09:40

I wonder if inbound tourist numbers are in fact backing off.

In Australia, people travelling to India would have once been viewed as the more adventurous end of the tourist spectrum, but lately as a destination India is seen more and more as a mainstream option, even slightly trendy in middle class circles.

OrangeStreet · Oct 28th, 2009, 21:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brisso

I wonder if inbound tourist numbers are in fact backing off.

Actually not. The number of inbound tourists has increased from almost 2.2 Million in 2001 to 5 Million+ in 2008.

Here's the real problem though. Percentage increase Y-O-Y in inbound travel has been a little over 2% in almost a decade. From 9.2% in 2001-02 to 11.5% in 2007-08.

During the same period, Outbound travel has moved from 7.3% to 16.1%.

Oct 27th, 2009, 16:28	#1
OrangeStreet In Utero Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 657	Interesting Article about Indian Tourism Was scanning through the usual portals for my morning dope of news and stumbled across this piece. Quite an eye-opening experience about the gravity of the tourism situation. [Some experts were privately saying that the 'Incredible India' campaign -- huge 'Incredible India' billboards have been mounted in subway stations in Singapore or at other strategic locations in Frankfurt, London or New York -- raised expectations of tourists visiting India, who came back with poor impressions of the country, mainly because of the very high hotel room prices.....] Here - http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20091027...rom-india.html __________________ Cheers OS

Oct 27th, 2009, 22:27	#2
capt_mahajan Infidel Sufi Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: styx Posts: 13,606	Some of those comments may be valid, but the article seems to have been written from the tour operator's point of view (more money to be made from Indian tourists going abroad than the other way round) India has never had huge tourist numbers. I daresay people who want to come visit will do so anyway. While it may be preferable to have more revenue from foreign tourism (Kerala is threatening to become a cruise ship hub of sorts in India), too much tourism has its pitfalls, as seen in Goa, where a combination of local and foreign factors is at play. We need tourists, but we don't need more Goas- or areas of HP where drugs connected locals and foreigners cause havoc even today. So it is a mixed blessing, the lower tourist numbers. Edit: Must add that the biggest present threat to tourism, domestic or foreign, is the Maoist and such related violence which is happening daily in parts of India. Just today a passenger train was 'hijacked' and released. __________________ . Outside the machine

Oct 27th, 2009, 23:28	#5
machadinha brother my cup is empty member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: yörp Posts: 14,391	<cross-posting with Capt.'s latest> Hm, well. I do think, and you can witness it on this board, too, that for various reasons (it being very easy today to think of or book an exotic holiday at the drop of a mouse click is another) there'll be an increasing segment of visitors being perhaps not all that prepared for what they'll find on the ground in a number of countries. I've said before how Dutch embassy personnel raised the alarm about it some years ago, being inundated by folks worldwide getting themselves into perfectly avoidable trouble or confusions -- and expecting them to come to the rescue at their every whim, something they're simply in no position to do of course, even if they wanted to. There has been word and for some years that esp. the higher end of the Indian hotel market is getting overstretched yes; so apparently there is an increase in visitors in that sector, and not enough room to accommodate them. It would then be possible some of those places don't live up to expectations; although on the other hand, I'm quite sure one can still have the 5-star experience with all mod cons in India at a rate that you'd have a hard time getting most anywhere else, indeed. Well, not sure where I left my point. Just some observations. I guess what I mean is maybe "Incredible India" campaigns abroad are likely to raise expectations that will be hard-met on the ground, indeed. Then again if one has the money, sure it can still be relatively cheap to have the luxury experience there, and not having to be confronted with the heaving masses all the time, at all. That's not even a value judgement of mine, it just is; not every visitor has to have the in-your-face experience some backpackers like me choose to, of course not. I mean I've had people laugh at me on this board for claiming Mumbai were "expensive"; sure, purely by Western standards, it probably isn't. The cheapest of rooms in Amsterdam and really not much of anything but just above a dorm start at some 80 Euros; so that's Rs. 5500 for a tiny single bed and a shower you can barely turn around in, and really not much more. So I suppose even in Mumbai for let's say that or double it, at Rs. 5-10,000 you could have a most agreeable place indeed. Throw in an aircon car, some fancy restaurants, and etc., at again relatively moderate if not to say insanely cheap rates, it will be literally a different world out there. Still though, I suppose some may be a little shocked if not appalled at some of the everyday things they'll get to see. And then those monuments aren't always all polished, and... (some of them are so far to drive to, too! Couldn't they have put them a little closer by? And then the heat!) __________________ Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

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Oct 27th, 2009, 23:25	#4
capt_mahajan Infidel Sufi Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: styx Posts: 13,606	On hotel rooms, most people paying for 5 star hotel rooms, Indian or foreign, are not paying out of their own pockets. That tourism is more dependant on the state of the economy than anything else.

Oct 28th, 2009, 09:40	#8
Brisso Specialist muddler Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Brisbane Posts: 1,084	I wonder if inbound tourist numbers are in fact backing off. In Australia, people travelling to India would have once been viewed as the more adventurous end of the tourist spectrum, but lately as a destination India is seen more and more as a mainstream option, even slightly trendy in middle class circles.