Benchmarking Indian Tourism With the Global Standard- a Critical Analysis
Introduction: The early history of tourism says people traveled from one place to another mainly because of food , shelter or just for curiosity. But in due course large scale mobility of people were caused by the natural elements of human pressure, entertainment or forced man to move to other location. Due to the absence of roads and other transport facilities, travel and tourism was a hard way to think of. This led to the emergence of land routes , river or sea navigation.
Now with dismantling of national boundaries, the tourism scenario is also changing. There is a steady growth in the number of tourist arrivals and more satisfactorily the average spending of foreign tourist has gone up.
Tourism Product: In the earth today any thing can be promoted as the tourism product anywhere.. It is not location specific as the agriculture and manufacturing sector do. India in particular has a 5000-year -old heritage and thousands of monuments and archeological sites for the tourists to enjoy. The country abounds in attractive and well preserves historical sites and ancient monuments of architectural grandeur. India offers enormous diversity in topography, natural resources and climate. There are land- rocked mountainous regions, lush valleys and plains, arid desert regions, white sandy beaches and islands. Central India has numerous wildlife sanctuaries with countless varieties of flora and fauna. The country has unparallel cultural diversity, languages, religions, customs and traditions.
The major adventure tourism activities are trekking, and skiing in the Himalayas, river running in the Gangas, water sports in Goa, trout fishing in the Himachal Pradesh and many more. We have some of the best beaches of the world, many of which are still unexplored in Andaman and Lakshadweep islands.
Tourism Contribution: The impact of tourism in our country is multi dimensional. It is reflected on the economic, social, cultural, political and environmental issues and aspects of the country. In a more generic sense it develops understanding among the people, create jobs both directly and indirectly, augments foreign exchange reserves and helps in the overall economic wellbeing of the people.
Earnings from foreign tourist arrivals had grown strongly in the nineties and contributed to over Rs21,828 crores a year in the recent past. According to the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) the industry provides direct employment to 262 million people who constitute 10.5% of the global workforce. These numbers are expected to grow to 383 million by the year 2007. Tourism also accounts for 8% of the world exports making it the largest internationally traded products or services.
Tourism in Global View: Tourism is the largest industry in the world next to the oil industry. In terms of earnings it has left automobiles and information technology industry behind. Tourism is the largest employer.
Table-1
Growth of International Tourists from 1948 to 2004
Sl No
Year
No. of Tourists
(in million)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1948
1964
1990
1996
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
14.0
144.0
458.5
591.9
687.3
684.1
702.6
694.0
760.0
Source: 1. WTO Statistics- Published in Tourism and Travel Management, p. 64.
2. India : Tourism and heritage Challenge, CommuniquA: a Journal of Confederation of Indian Institutes, November 2001,p.3
The table shows that the 760 million international tourist arrivals during 2004 is the biggest increase since 1984 which shows the best growth in the past 20 years. There is an increase of 69 million of tourists during 2004 compared to 2003 with an increase of 10% growth. This is mainly attributed to the countries like China and USSR those who recognized the importance of tourism in their national economy. A study shows the leading advanced countries particularly the fourteen countries namely, USA, Germany, the UK, France, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Spain accounted for 78 percent of the world visitor arrivals.
Market Position of Tourism in India: For centuries India has been the centre of attraction for different people for different reasons. Ancient invaders viewed it as a gold mine with unlimited wealth to plunder. Where as others attracted to it because of its mystic spiritualism, sheer beauty of its natural manifestations and amazing variety of flora and fauna. These inherent advantages could have made India as an ideal destination. But various constraints have hampered the growth of tourism in India at the expected levels.
Table-2
Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India
S.No
Year
Arrivals
Changes
1
1991
1677508
------
2
1992
1867651
10.1%
3
1993
1764830
-05.8%
4
1994
1886433
6.4%
5
1995
2123683
11.1%
6
1996
2287860
7.1%
7
1997
2374094
3.6%
8
1998
2358629
-6.5%
9
1999
2481928
4.9%
10
2000
2641157
6.4%
11
2001
2536978
-4.0%
12
2002
2384384
-6.0%
13
2003
2726214
14.3%
14
2004
3367980
23.5%
Source: 1. Ministry of Tourism Annual report 1994-95
2. Dept . of Tourism Annual report up to 1999.
3. Economic Time 6.1.2002 Page 13
4. Business Line, New Delhi-09.01.2005
The travel and tourism business in India constitutes a pathetic 0.40 percent of the trillion-dollar world tourism industry and it remains stagnant over the past two decades. The above table shows since the beginning of the nineties the growth rate in the foreign tourist arrivals in India has recorded a highly fluctuated and erratic trend. The trend is mainly attributed to the terrorists attacks in USA and its subsequent apprehension on the security of the tourists. But surprisingly in 2004 , the foreign tourist arrivals crossed 3 million with an increase of 23.5% in India.
In contrast our neighboring countries are able to attract more foreign tourists. The Asian countries have increased their foreign tourist arrivals drastically in the last three years; Singapore 7 million, Thailand 11 million, Malaysia 14 million and above all China 36 million foreign tourists.
Contribution of Tourism to the Foreign Exchange Earnings: Tourism industry in India is thriving due to increase of foreign tourists arrivals during 2003-2004. This has significantly added to the foreign exchange reserves of the state.
Table-3
Foreign exchange earnings through tourism from 1998 to 2004 by India.
Sl No
Year
Amount (in US $)
Change over the previous year.
1
1998
2948
----
2
1999
3009
2.1
3
2000
3168
5.3
4
2001
3042
4.0
5
2002
2923
3.9
6
2003
3533
20.8%
7
2004
4810
36.0%
Source: 1) Incredible India Figure-2003
2) Business Line New Delhi- 09.01.2005
During 2003 and 2004 the foreign exchange earnings from tourism was recorded US$ 3533, ( Rs 16,429 crore) and US $ 4810 (Rs 21828 crores) respectively. It was 20.8% and 36.0% increase over the previous respective periods. The tourism department anticipates a further hike in foreign tourists arrivals in the successive years.
Reasons for the growth of tourism: There are several reasons responsible for the growth of tourism in India. Among them the first one is our dramatic achievement in IT industry to make it as one of the major global IT hub. The second reason is attributed to the government effort. The nation wide publicity campaign a The Incredible Indiaa strategy during 2002 to 2004 proved successful of attracting more tourists. The advertising campaigns on the prominent TV channels and in magazines is a further step towards it. The initiative of public-private-participation for the development of tourist infrastructure is another reason. The intense competition in the airline industry between private and government airline companies in the form of cutting air tariffs and expanding their network increase the flow of tourist to India. In addition to the above the task force set up by the government to promote India as a prominent health tourist destination also attracted approximately 1,50,000 patients during 2004.
Problems: In spite of its growth rate during 2004, Indian tourism market constitutes around 0.4% of its world market share. India is unable to attract the expected number of foreign tourists despite extensive marketing efforts. The term India has not been sending the correct signals to travel enthusiasts across the glove. The image of India is portrayed to the world community is that of mysticism, political instability, grinding poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, unemployment, communal discord, lack of social services and corruptions. This image plays a very crucial role for de-motivating tourist to visit India and to visit the neighboring Asian countries.
Table-4
Government Expenditure on Tourism and Travel in 2001
Sl No
Name of the Country
Amount incurred in percent
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
India
Thailand
United Kingdom
Germany
China
USA
Sri Lanka
France
Malaysia
Honk Kong
Singapore
Spain
0.9
2.8
2.6
3.3
3.8
3.9
4.0
4.7
5.1
7.4
9.1
9.5
Source: Economic Times, October 28,2001, p.7
The table shows the investment in travel and tourism, in terms of Indian government expenditure is 0.9 percent of the total budget allocation in 2001 and in subsequent years it is very low compared to other countries. Though India has much to offer in terms of tourist attractions, there are major constraints on the growth of tourism particularly in terms of lack of sufficient airports facilities, international and domestic air- seat capacity, surface transport facilities, accommodation, restaurants shopping and recreational facilities, trained labor force and other support services. The beggars, touts, and unhygienic waste in important tourist places are the other stumbling blocks for the free movement of the foreign tourists.
Table -5
Country wise Comparison of Rooms Available in Hotels in the Year 2002
C 00004000 ountry
Rooms available in hotels
China
8,97,206
Thailand
3,20,565
Malaysia
1,30,757
India
85,481
Singapore
35,989
Source: World Tourism Organization
The country wise comparison shows that India has a sheer insufficiency of hotel rooms for the tourists.
Measures to be taken: After analyzing the above drawbacks we can say that India has the ability to capitalize on its rich product composition to attract a higher proportion of the international tourists at least to 1% of the world market share. For this the above measures are suggested.
- Significant improvement in transport network: Efforts have to be undertaken to improve the efficiency of Indian airline services along with the domestic air transport system. The airports , railway stations, bus stops and the roads have to be up graded to the global standard. Air connectivity has to be improved through public-private -partnerships.
- Liberalize the Visa restrictions: Another major inhibitor of growth of tourism is the difficulty of obtaining visas for India. Government must liberalize visa restrictions to ensure a larger flow of tourists to the country which do not pose any political or security problems. Visas should be issued easily on entry at the airport in respect of visitors from such countries.
- Engage local communities to develop their cultural heritage: It is seen in India that the ancient tourist's destinations are in the way to destructions. This is mainly because of non- involvement of the local communities. The economic benefits of tourism must be shared by the local people who are mainly the preserver of it. Therefore a kind of consciousness should be developed among the masses to preserve the flora and fauna, the ancient monuments, scriptures and other archeological beauties.
- Need for a strong marketing approach: Increased competition from the neighboring countries and a poor perception of the Indian tourism product need a strong marketing approach. The Incredible India campaign should be strengthened mainly targeting to the competitors of the overseas countries. The promotional expenditure of Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia far exceeds the promotional expenditure of India. India needs a vigorous effort to improve its image as an attractive tourist destination of global standard.
- Develop tailor-made packages: Many of out tour packages do not respond to the tourists requirements. This is mainly because of erroneous development of the tour packages. Instead of a mass production and mass consumption approach , the tour operators must have flexible packages to provide life time value to the visitors looking into their profile.
Conclusion: India is no doubt a fascinating destination with an outstanding mix of ancient monuments, delightful jungles, virgin beaches, scenic beauties, colorful folk and classical dances and above all hospitable people. What it requires a more vibrant approach of welcoming tourists and sends them back as friends with enormous happy and living memories. The thorough implementation of the concept a Atithi devo Bhovoa in each level of tourism will definitely achieve our target of global tourism market of India.
References:
- Anand, M.M., Tourism and Hotel Industry in India, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
- Batra, G.S. Management of Tourism Corporation (A Case Study of Punjab), National Seminar on Tourism, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 1994.
- Tourist arrival in India- FHRAI- Newsletter, July-August 2005
- Incredible India Figure- 2003
- Business Line, New Delhi-09.01.2005
- Economic Times, October 28, 2001, p.7
