Incredible India: the traveller's paradise
A roadshow was held in Muscat recently to promote the ‘Visit India 2009’ campaign, put together by the travel industry in association with Government of India. Visvas Paul D Karra travels to Mumbai, Delhi and Agra for this exclusive report

Mention India, and one immediately conjures up a picture of an enigmatic land teeming with a billion people. This subcontinent country, which has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies of the world, also offers myriad exciting experiences to international travellers.

The growth trend in foreign tourist arrivals to India is quite amazing to say the least. According to the latest statistics released by the government of India, despite the ongoing global financial meltdown, foreign tourist arrivals during March 2009 alone, were 4,72,000 and during the first quarter of 2009, the figure stood at 1.46 million. In terms of foreign exchange earnings from tourism, again in March 2009 alone, the figure stood at $867mn with the figure in the Q1 2009 standing at $2.73bn. Despite short and medium term setbacks like the Mumbai terror attacks, tourism revenues are expected to rise by 42 per cent from 2007 to 2017.

Visit India 2009
To keep up the impetus of the travel industry and encourage more travellers, the Indian Union Ministry of Tourism has launched a ‘Visit India 2009’ campaign by offering attractive incentives to foreign tourists visiting the country during the period April 2009-March 2010. The value additions that would be offered include one complimentary international air passage for travelling companion, one night complimentary stay in the hotel booked by the tourist, complimentary local sightseeing tour in any one city of visit and a complimentary rural eco-holiday in the country. Likewise, foreign medical tourists will also be offered one additional treatment free of cost at leading healthcare centres like Apollo Hospitals, Manipal, Moolchand, Fortis and Wockhardt.

Roadshow
Anil Wadhwa, Indian Ambassador to the Sultanate, launched the ‘Incredible India’ road show and an outdoor advertising campaign at a function held at Muscat InterContinental Hotel last month This was part of the roadshow for Visit India 2009 promotional campaign. HE Wadhwa flagged off the bus wrapped in Incredible India images as part of ‘Visit India 2009’. The road show was held under the aegis of India Tourism Office Overseas, in collaboration with the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and Embassy of India in Oman.

The roadshow attracted around 100 delegates from Oman’s travel and trade industry who were able to have fruitful B2B talks with their counterparts from India. Quoting a tourism report, HE Wadhwa said that the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 brought out by the World Economic Forum, ranked India in the 11th position in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd overall in a list of 133 assessed countries in 2008 as a tourist destination. This has taken India up by three places since 2007.

The report observes that India is richly endowed with natural and cultural resources, with several World Heritage sites and boasts of a rich bouquet of tourism services, ranging from leisure tourism in verdant hill stations to houseboats in Dal Lake of Kashmir and the backwaters of Kerala. India also has beach tourism in several exotic places dotting the country’s vast coastline; while its medical tourism in world class super-specialty hospitals is world class.

Full-fledged campaign
According to M Sadana, regional director, (East Asia, West Asia and Africa), India Tourism, Dubai, despite the global recession, Indian tourism market was very buoyant and grew by 6 per cent in 2008. Therefore, the ministry of tourism has decided to continue with its promotional activities and Visit India 2009 roadshow is part of this campaign. It is a full-fledged campaign launched across all media channels including the print and the electronic media all over the world to sell India’s tourism potential to the world. Every crisis presents itself with an opportunity and one has to capitalise on this, he remarked. With its thriving economy and business conference tourism offers large opportunities; while its wildlife tourism in national parks with varied flora and fauna and adventure tourism in diverse landscapes ranging from vast expanses of deserts to the majestic Himalayas make up for the different experiences that India offers.

Medical tourism
India ranks as the second largest destination in medical tourism after Thailand, with 450,000 patients from abroad having received treatment in India during the year 2007 alone. A two-year study by healthcare researchers from Deloitte reveals that there’s a significant rise in patient arrivals in India from the US, UK, and Europe apart from the usual inflow of patients from neighbouring countries and West Asia.

A number of reasonably priced wellness centres and health spas are coming up in several destinations. Healthcare majors in the eastern part of the country too are wooing international patients with special offerings. Leading players in the field like the Calcutta Medical research Institute (CMRI), Medica Synergy Limited (MSL), Apollo Gleneagles, BM Birla Heart Research Centre, are offering added facilities. Apollo is expecting a 30-40 per cent increase in international patients this year, mostly from the US, UK, Italy and Germany.

According to Sadana, the government of India has started a scheme known as medical visa to facilitate and promote medical tourism to India since the past two years.

Hospitality sector
India also boasts of incomparable five star services with its motto of “serving a guest is like serving god”. The country’s hospitality sector is expected to rise to around $275bn in the next 10 years. The domestic hospitality sector is expected to see investments of over $11bn in the next two years alone with 40 international hotel brands lined up to set foot in the country in the next few years.

Two of the well-known hotel groups which are participating in this Visit India 2009 promotion are the Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces; and Oberoi Hotels & Resorts.

Established in 1903, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is one of Asia’s largest and finest group of hotels, comprising 65 hotels in 45 locations across India with an additional 15 international hotels in the Maldives, Malaysia, Australia, UK, USA, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Africa and the Middle East. From world-renowned landmarks to modern business hotels, idyllic beach resorts to authentic Rajput palaces, each Taj hotel offers an unrivalled fusion of warm Indian hospitality, world-class service and modern luxury. The Taj, a symbol of Indian hospitality, has completed the centenary of its landmark hotel, The Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Mumbai. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is part of the Tata Group, India’s premier business house.

Oberoi Hotels & Resorts are synonymous the world over with providing the right blend of luxury, impeccable service and quiet efficiency. Internationally recognised for all-round excellence and unparalleled levels of service, Oberoi Hotels & Resorts have the distinction of receiving innumerable awards and accolades. Three Oberoi hotels were ranked among the six best in the world by the readers in Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2008. The Oberoi Rajvilas, Jaipur; The Oberoi Udaivilas, Udaipur and The Oberoi Amarvilas, Agra were rated 2nd, 4th and 6th best hotels in the world respectively.

Emphasis on infrastructure
The Indian government is laying particular emphasis in the development of airport and roads infrastructure through public-private partnerships, devising innovative fiscal incentives such as longer tax holidays for the hospitality sector, and adopting aggressive marketing strategies to position India as an attractive tourist destination globally through a series of road shows in strategic cities across continents.

Tourists coming to India from the Middle East would be in a better position to appreciate our land as there are many cultural similarities between Indians and the Arabs, points out Sadana while saying that the GCC region has been the spinal cord of foreign tourist arrivals to India. There were nearly 2.5 lakh tourists from UAE alone last year while there were around 30,000 Omanis who visited India. The former Indian finance minister P Chidambaram had sanctioned INR10bn (RO 82.01mn) as tourism plan allocation in the last budget to boost the country’s efforts to attract more tourists.

Easy connectivity
India is a vast country and it has diverse places abounding in both natural beauty and historical and cultural heritage. And to visit these places, one will definitely need to do a lot of travelling within India itself. In order to facilitate this, Jet Airways has become a partner of Visit India 2009 together with Kingfisher airlines and Air India. Jet Airways is offering a Companion Free Offer wherein you get two tickets at the cost of one and you and your companion can travel at amazing fares.

With an average fleet age of 4.53 years, the airline has one of the youngest aircraft fleets in the world. The airline operates flights to 63 destinations spanning the length and breadth of India and beyond, including New York (both JFK and Newark), Toronto, Brussels, London (Heathrow), Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Colombo, Bangkok, Kathmandu, Dhaka, Kuwait, Bahrain, Muscat, Doha, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Jet Airways has numerous awards to its credit and is the only private airline from India flying to international destinations.

Rural tourism
Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for Rural Development. The development of a strong platform around the concept of Rural tourism is definitely useful for a country like India.

With almost 74 per cent of its population residing in over seven million villages, rural tourism has a lot of potential in India. Therefore India has begun a process of developing a strong platform around the concept of rural tourism and has identified around 137 locations in various states of India to attract foreign tourists. According to Pronab Sarkar, honorary secretary, Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the national body of tour operators, home stay is commonly available in many places in India, where a tourist stays like a guest in a house.

But IATO has taken this a step further by identifying certain villages in certain states where tourists can stay for one day and experience the traditions, heritage and culture of a particular area. As Indian villages have been the microcosm of India, much of the history is woven around these small places. IATO is organising and promoting rural tourism all across the country. 

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