CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND

TOURISM – AN INTRODUCTION

Tourism has been a major social phenomenon of societies all over the world. It is driven by the natural urge of every human being for new experiences, and the desire to be both educated and entertained. The motivations for tourism also include religious and business interests; the spread of education has fostered a desire to know more about different parts of the globe. The basic human thirst for new experience and knowledge has become stronger, as communication barriers are getting overcome by technological advances. Progress in air transport and the development of tourist facilities have encouraged people to venture beyond the boundaries.

The importance of Tourism, as an instrument of economic development and employment generation, particularly in remote and backward areas, has been well recognized the world over. It is a large service industry globally in terms of gross revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings. Tourism can play an important and effective role in achieving the growth with equity.

Tourism is one economic sector in India that has the potential to grow at a high rate and can ensure consequential development of the infrastructure of the destinations. It has the capacity to capitalize on the country’s success in the services sector and provide sustainable models of growth.

It has the potential to stimulate other economic sectors through its backward and forward linkages and cross-sectoral synergies with sectors like agriculture, horticulture, poultry, handicrafts, transport, construction, etc. Expenditure on tourism induces a chain of transactions requiring supply of goods and services from these related sectors. The consumption demand, emanating from tourist expenditure, also induces more employment and generates a multiplier effect on the economy. As a result, additional income and employment opportunities are generated through such linkages. Thus, the expansion of the tourism sector can lead to large scale employment generation and poverty alleviation. The economic benefits that flow into the economy through growth of tourism in shape of increased national and State revenues, business receipts, employment, wages and salary income, buoyancy in Central, State and local tax receipts can contribute towards overall socio-economic improvement and accelerated growth in the economy.

Tourism is overwhelmingly an industry of Private sector service Providers, although the public sector has a significant role to play in infrastructure areas either directly or through Public Private Partnership mode. It is a multi-sectoral activity characterized by multiple services provided by a range of suppliers. It is

quite similar to manufacturing industry, where the supply chain is as important as the end product. The related sectors include airlines, Surface transport, hotels, basic infrastructure and facilitation systems, etc. Thus, the growth of tourism cannot be attained unless the issues related to all the sectors are addressed simultaneously.

Another important feature of the tourism industry, which is of particular significance to India, is its contribution to national integration and preservation of natural as well as cultural environments and enrichment of the social and cultural lives of people. Over 382 million domestic tourists visiting different parts of the country every year return with a better understanding of the people living in different regions of the country. They have a better appreciation of the cultural diversity of India. Tourism also encourages preservation of monuments and heritage properties and helps the survival of arts forms, crafts and culture.

TOURISM OUTLOOK- GLOBAL

The total contribution of World Travel &Tourism to GDP, including its wider economic impacts, was about US$ 5701.950 billion in 2010. The total industry valuation is forecast to rise by 4.2% pa from US$ 5,991.9bn (9.1% of GDP) in 2011 to US$9,226.9bn (9.6%) by 2021.1

Post the period of stagnation triggered by the events of September 11, 2001 coupled with slow growth of the global economy, conflicts in the Middle East and sporadic terrorist attacks worldwide, International tourism has rebounded strongly since 2004, both in terms of arrivals and of receipts. World Tourism demand like the global economy continues to exceed expectations, showing resilience against extraneous factors.

Worldwide, the number of international tourist arrivals is estimated to have reached 935 million, up 58 million (+6.7%) compared with 2009 (877 million) and 22 million (+2.4%) more than during the pre-crisis peak year 2008 (913 million).2

As a reflection of economic conditions, recovery was particularly strong in emerging economies, where arrivals grew faster (+8%) than in advanced ones (+5%). This multi-speed growth is expected to continue over the foreseeable future.2

Asia (+13%) was the first region to recover and the strongest growing region in 2010. International tourist arrivals into Asia reached a new record at 204 million last year, up from 181 million in 2009. Africa (+6% to 49 million), the only region to show positive figures in 2009, maintained growth during 2010, benefiting from increasing economic dynamism and the hosting of events such as the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The Middle East closed the year with double digit growth (+14% to 60 million) where almost all destinations grew by 10% or more.

1 World Trade & Tourism Council: Economic Data Search Tool2 UNWTO World Tourism Barometer: January 20011

Recovery in Europe (+3% to 471 million) was slower than in other regions due to the air traffic disruption caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano and the economic uncertainty affecting the euro zone.

The Americas (+8% to 151 million) rebounded from the decline in 2009 brought on by the economic hardship suffered in North America and the impact of the influenza A(H1N1) outbreak. The return to growth in the US economy has helped improve the region's results as a whole, as did the increasing regional integration in Central and South America and the vitality of Latin American economies. Growth was strongest in South America (+10%).

Among the top outbound tourism markets in terms of expenditure abroad, emerging economies continued to drive growth: China (+17%), the Russian Federation (+26%), Saudi Arabia (+28%) and Brazil (+52%). Of the traditional source markets, Australia (+9%), Canada (+8%), Japan (+7%) and France (+4%) rebounded, while more modest growth at 2% came from the USA, Germany and Italy. On the opposite side of the spectrum, expenditure abroad from the UK was still down by 4% in 2010.2

In terms of future forecasts, an increase in international tourist arrivals worldwide in the range of 4% to 5% is expected, somewhat above the long term average of 4%. Asia and the Pacific and the Middle East will lead the growth of 7% to 9% and 7% to 10% respectively. Europe will be the only region that is forecasted to grow below average at 2% to 4% only.2

Although, the recession has been a serious test, Tourism has proved to be a reasonable resilient sector. 2010 also saw the rise in importance of mega-events – sports, culture and exhibitions – in terms of their extraordinary ability to attract visitors and position host countries as attractive tourism destinations. Notable examples include the Winter Olympics in Canada, the Shanghai Expo in China, the FIFA World Cup in South Africa and the Commonwealth Games in India.

TOURISM OUTLOOK- ASIA

Asia continues to be the world economic powerhouse. According to the United Nations, by 2020, four of the largest ten economies will be in Asia (China, India, Japan and the Republic of Korea). Asia will also account for 12 of the 22 mega cities (urban centres with more than 10 million people) by the same year.3

An improved global economic performance, further uplifts of travel and visa restrictions in the region, lower transportation costs, and favourable exchange rates all contributed to the strong rebound in the region.

Asia (+13%) was the first region to recover and the strongest growing region in 2010. Of the 842 million arrivals in the world for the year 2010, 204 million were for Asia, up from 181 million in 2009.2

3 Mega Trends of Tourism in Asia Pacific: June 2006 (Report by UNWTO)

A double-digit growth rate is a common result for destinations in this region, where international travel is boosted by a strong development of the local economies. With 23 million additional visits the region has secured a share of 22% of the international tourism market.2

There was increased competition among airlines in pricing as steps were taken by various government authorities worldwide to ease protection on their own national carriers. This resulted in lower airfares on some routes, despite a possible pass-through due to the hikes in oil prices. The rise of the low-cost airlines offering not only lower prices but also lesser restrictions with respect to length of stay or weekend stopover, thus putting air travel within reach of groups of travellers with more limited budgets but a healthy desire for travel, also triggered tourism in the region.

Further relaxation of immigration regulations and cultural integration in the region favoured intra-regional tourism, with generally lower spending levels due to shorter stays. Together with some price cutting strategies adopted by countries and corporations in the region, intraregional traffic recovered quicker than long-haul traffic.

Though still the smallest of WTO’s tourism regions, South Asia4 has been recording consistently strong growth over the past four decades due to the growing number of new destinations on offer in the region, and the expansion of the tourism product developed in the main countries of the region. These developments have served to attract in particular the long-haul interregional tourist.

TOURISM OUTLOOK- VISION 2020

The Tourism 2020 Vision5 forecasts show that international tourist arrivals are expected to reach over 1.56 billion by the year 2020. This demonstrates an annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent over the period 1995-2020. Long-haul (interregional) travel worldwide will grow faster than intraregional travel. In 1995, long-haul travel accounted for 18 per cent of all international trips; by 2020 this is expected to increase to 24 per cent.

The 22 destinations6 of the Indian Ocean country grouping are forecast to receive 179 million international tourist arrivals in the year 2020, thus recording an annual growth rate of 6.3 per cent over the period 1995-2020. Consequently, the Indian Ocean region is gaining market share of worldwide tourist arrivals and by 2020 one-in-every-nine (or around 11 per cent) of tourist arrivals will be to an Indian Ocean country. Thailand will become the leading Indian Ocean destination with a forecast of 36.9 million arrivals in 2020, an

4 WTO Tourism 2020 Vision – Countries part of South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan & Sri-Lanka. 5 WTO Tourism 2020 Vision, Volume 6: South Asia 6 WTO Tourism 2020: Classifies the 22 destinations as Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Reunion, Seychelles, Singapore, Somalia, South-Africa, Sri-Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand and Yemen

average annual growth between 1995 and 2020 of 6.9 per cent. South Africa will occupy the second place, third place will be occupied by Indonesia, Malaysia at number four; fifth and sixth positions will be held by Australia and Singapore respectively. India will be the seventh largest Indian Ocean country in terms of arrivals.

The prospects for the Tourism sector at a global level are very optimistic on account of the following factors:

- The worldwide economic growth is fuelling the old source markets of North America and Europe and simultaneously creating new source markets of Asia.

- Travel & tourism has rebounded post the terror incidences and threats to airlines. Consumer confidence is up again and not dampened anymore by these events.

TOURISM OUTLOOK – INDIA

Given the Global Tourism perspective, buoyancy in the Indian Economy and growth in the related ancillary industries like Infrastructure and Aviation, the Tourism Industry is expected to be on an upswing in India.

During the period 2002 to 2009, India witnessed an increase in the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) from 2.38 million to 5.11 million. Due to global slowdown, terrorist activities, H1N1 influenza pandemic, etc., growth rate in FTAs during 2009 fell by 3.3 per cent. The year witnessed a contraction in global tourism by 4.3 per cent; the declaration in India was, therefore, less than that of the scale of global slowdown.7

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) from tourism increased from Rs. 15,064 crore in 2002 to Rs. 54,960 crore in 2009. The growth rate in earnings in 2009 vis-a-vis 2008 was 8.3 per cent.7

India’s outbound travel is twice the volume of inbound, and destinations in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to receive continuous growth in tourist arrivals from India. In terms of the growing travel and tourism economy and the real growth rate of travel market, India is the number one country in Asia-Pacific region.3

The Travel & Tourism Industry in India is expected to grow and generate US $ 128 billion by 2016. The Total Demand is expected to grow by 8% per annum, in real terms, between 2007 and 2016. In the year 2006, India represented 0.8 % of the world market share.8

India’s rich cultural and geographic diversity provides the basis of a wide range of tourist products and experiences, which include among others - leisure, culture, adventure, spirituality, eco-tourism and wellness & health. Apart from

7 Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Annual Report 2009-108 World Travel and Tourism Council & Accenture: Travel And Tourism Economic Research in India (2006)

acknowledging the traditionally recognized advantages of developing tourism for promotion of people to people understanding, earning of the foreign exchange, vast employment generation, it can play a major role in furthering the socio-economic objectives of the nation.

TOURISM AND EMPLOYMENT

The travel and tourism sector creates more jobs per million rupees of investment than any other sector of the economy and is capable of providing employment to a wide spectrum of job seekers from the unskilled to the specialized, even in the remote parts of the country.9

Tourism employs around 8.78% of total workforce. The most significant contribution of the tourism is the creation of employment in rural areas by stimulating local art, handicrafts and folklore.

9 Eleventh Five year plan (2007-2012)

CHAPTER II

MARKETING INDIA TO THE WORLD

OVERVIEW

According to spending data released by Visa Asia-Pacific in March 2006, India emerged as the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific in terms of international tourist spending. The data revealed that international tourists spent US$ 372 million in India in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2005, 25% more than in the fourth quarter of 2004. China, which came second in the region, was successful in making international tourists fork out US% 784 million in Q4 2005, a growth of 23% over its Q4 2004 figures. The tourists spending figures for India would have pleased the Indian tourism ministry, which had been targeting the high-end market through its long-running ‘Incredible India’ communication campaign. Also, the fact that India was able to earn around half of what China could, in spite of attracting only a fraction of the number of tourists that its neighbour managed to lure, indicated that the campaign had been successful in achieving its objective.

The ‘Incredible India’ campaign was an integrated marketing communication effort to support the Indian tourism industry’s attempts to attract tourists to the country. The campaign projected India as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing different aspects of Indian culture and history like yoga, spirituality, etc. The campaign was conducted globally and received appreciation from tourism industry observers and travellers alike.

However, the campaign also came in for criticism from some quarters. Some observers felt that it had failed to cover several aspects of India which would have been attractive to the average tourist. Others felt that it would have been better to build the necessary tourism infrastructure before launching the marketing campaign, especially as, according to them, much of this infrastructure was on the verge of falling apart. Still others were of the view that India was not on the itinerary of millions of tourists not so much because the country was unable to market itself, but more because of poor connectivity, exorbitant taxes, visa problems, unsanitary conditions, and shortage of affordable, good quality accommodation. Some of them even argued that the future of the Indian tourism industry depended more on solving the infrastructure problems rather than on an extravagant communication campaigns.

INDIAN TOURISM POLICY INITIATIVES BEFORE 2002 10

10 Adapted from www.equitableourism.org

The Government of India came out with its first ever policy on tourism in 1982. The policy was more of statement of intention than a plan for development. It aimed at projecting India as the ultimate holiday destination. The policy suggested granting export industry status to tourism, developing tourist circuits, developing a marketing campaign based on the cultural heritage of the country, and inviting private sector participation.

Several legislative and executive measures followed the tourism policy. In 1987, Tourism Development Finance Corporation was established with a corpus fund of Rs 1 billion and it disbursed loans at concessional rates for tourism-related projects. In 1988, the National Committee on Tourism setup by the Planning Commission submitted a perspective plan on the tourism industry. The committee recommended structural changes such as replacing the Department of Tourism with a Tourism Board. It suggested the creation of an exclusive cadre of the civil service – the Indian Tourism Service. It also recommended the partial privatization of the national carriers – Indian Airlines and Air India. The seventh five-year plan (1985-86 to 1989-90) also spoke of the basic framework of operational initiatives vis-à-vis the tourism industry.

The next major policy initiative came in May 1992 in the form of the ‘National Action Plan for Tourism’. The action plan contained several objectives – to increase the employment opportunities in the tourism industry; to develop domestic tourism for the budget traveler; to preserve the national heritage and the environment; and to diversify the Indian tourism product. It aimed to increase India’s share in world tourism to 1% in a span of five years. The plan recommended the development of special tourism areas on the lines of export processing zones, improvement of pilgrimage centers with financial assistance from the central government, and the setting up of a National Culinary Institute. It also suggested the creation of a flexible system for the recognition of travel agents and tour operators.

The eighth five-year plan (1992-93 to 1996-97) spoke about attracting high-spending tourists from Europe and USA. It also suggested the creation of a ‘master-plan’ by integrating area plans with tourism development. The other thrust areas in the plan included moving away from culture-related tourism to holiday and leisure, adventure, wildlife, etc.

In May 2002, the National Tourism Policy was unveiled. This was successfully a rehash of earlier policies and plans. The 2002 policy was, however, ambitious in the sense that it recommended positioning India as a global brand to attract tourists in larger numbers and exploiting the vast potential of India as a tourist destination. In the same period, a major policy initiative in the form of ‘opening of the skies’ was made with the aim of increasing the number of international tourist arrivals by enhancing air seat capacity and connectivity.

NEED FOR A CONCERTED CAMPAIGN

Before 2002, the Government of India (GoI) regularly formulated policies and prepared pamphlets and brochures for the promotion of tourism; however, it did not support tourism in a concerted fashion.

As a result, the country attracted very few tourists. A country like France, six times smaller than India, attracted around 20 times the number of tourists that India managed to draw (Refer Table I for World’s Top Ten Tourist Destinations and Table II for Tourism Receipts of few countries in 2004). That this was the case in spite of France not being able to offer the sheer variety in terms of geography, cuisine, culture, and experiences that India could, was perhaps an indication of the extent to which previous governmental efforts to promote tourism had been unsuccessful. However, in 2002, the tourism ministry made a conscious effort to bring in more professionalism in its attempts to promote tourism. It formulated an integrated communication strategy with the aim of promoting India as a destination of choice for the discerning traveler.

Table I: Top Ten Tourist Destinations in 2004

No. Country

Arrivals(In

Millions)

Share(In %)

1 France 75.12 9.92 Spain 53.60 7.03 USA 46.08 6.04 China 41.76 5.55 Italy 37.07 4.96 UK 27.71 3.67 Hong Kong 21.81 2.98 Mexico 20.62 2.79 Germany 20.14 2.610 Canada 19.08 2.5

Others 399.51 52.4World 762.5 100

Source: www.incredibleindia.org

Table II: Tourist Receipts for Some Countries

No. CountryInternational Tourist

Receipts in 2004(In Million US$)

1 USA 74,4812 Spain 45,2483 France 40,8424 Italy 35,6565 China 25,7396 Thailand 10,0347 Malaysia 8,1988 Singapore 5,0909 India 4,769

10 Sri Lanka 513

Source: www.world-tourism.org

THE ‘INCREDIBLE INDIA’ CAMPAIGN

THE CAMPAIGN 2002-2003

The tourism ministry engaged the services of Ogilvy & Mather (India) (O&M)11 to create a new campaign to increase tourist inflows into the country. The ‘Incredible India’ campaign, as it was called, was launched in 2002 with a series of television commercials and print advertisements. The campaign was based on striking pictures and themes related to India’s cultural legacy (yoga, ayurveda), scenic locales, etc. (Refer Figure I for examples of the advertisements). The aim of the campaign was “to project India as a unique opportunity for physical invigoration, mental rejuvenation, cultural enrichment and spiritual elevation.”12

11 Ogilvy & Mather (India) is a part of the Ogilvy Group, which was founded by David Ogilvy in 1948. It is a major advertising agency in India and has several large clients. The Indian operations take the fifth place, in terms of profits, among the group’s companies. The group has over 350 offices in around 100 countries.12 www.incredibleindia.org

Figure I: Some of the Print Advertisements of 'Incredible India' Campaign

Source: www.incredibleindia.org

The campaign was rolled out on some of the major television channels between January 2002 and March 2002 (Refer Table III for details). Abhijit Avasthi, Group Creative Director, O&M, said after the initial phase of the campaign was launched, “We broke the clutter by launching the ‘Incredible India’ campaign.”13

Table III: The 'Incredible India' Campaign on TV

Channel Period Region

Discovery Channel

January 15, 2002 to March 15, 2002

(8 Weeks)

Europe, Asia, Middle East & Africa

Discovery Channel

January 15, 2002 to March 15, 2002

(8 Weeks)

South-East Asia*, Australia & New Zealand

Travel ChannelJanuary 2002(2-3 Weeks)

All Regions

13 Pritha Mitra, “Even Tourism Needs the E-Quotient,” www.agencyfaqs.com, November 7, 2005

BBC WorldJanuary 2002-March 2002

(10 Weeks)Europe, Asia-Pacific,

Australia

CNNJanuary 2002-March 2002

(10 Weeks)Europe, Asia, Middle

East & Africa

* Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and

Brunei Source: 2: www.tourismofindia.org

The campaign also made extensive use of Internet. In March 2002, the official website of the tourism ministry, www.tourismofindia.com, was redesigned to make it both more attractive and functional. Prospective tourists could even use the website to plan their trip to India. The print ad campaign was complemented by a similar ad campaign on the Internet (Exhibit IV), which focused on specific destinations and themes. The online ads were placed in country-specific travel websites, portals, and search engines. Electronic newsletters and mailers were sent to people who subscribed to the service. Visitors were encouraged to respond through e-mail to contactus@tourismofindia.com. The web ad spends in a particular country were synchronized to match the ‘outbound tourist season’ of that country. The net-based advertising was used to promote domestic tourism as well. A new website, www.incredibleindia.org, was also launched around this time. Visitors to tourismofindia.com were automatically rerouted to the new website.

In the second phase of online campaign, from December 2002 to March 2003, close to 100 unique creatives on various themes like spirituality, yoga, etc., were used. To increase interactivity, several online contests were also held during this period.

In 2003, the print campaign focused mainly on spirituality. V Sunil, Director, O&M, said, “The new ads are different - they are very stylish and young in nature. They are unusual with a generous usage of graphics; they are more like campaigns for a sports brand. There is propagation of how spirituality is good for body, mind and soul.”14 The aim of the spirituality campaign was to attract wealthy and busy people in the Western countries who were looking for ways to recharge themselves. “We want to push wellness and spiritual tourism in a big way. We want visitors to append a few days at an Ayurveda spa and go back rejuvenated in mind and spirit,”15 Renuka Choudhury, the then tourism minister said.

THE CAMPAIGN 2004-2005

In 2004, in addition to launching a centralized electronic media campaign under ‘Incredible India’, the GoI announced its intention to make efforts to improve tourist information facilities at important tourist destinations and circuits, upgrade hotel infrastructure (especially budget hotels), improve approach roads

14 “Tourism Ministry Sells ‘Incredible India’ with Generous Dose of Spirituality,” www.indiantelevision.com, October 28, 200315 Nirmala George, “Incredible India Campaign Turns India into a Top Destination,” www.findarticles.com, December 26, 2004

to important tourist sites, and enhance air connectivity as well as air seat capacity. The 2004 campaign covered emerging economies like China and those of North-East Asia and South-East Asia. The tourism ministry also organized roadshows in Europe.

From August 2004 to March 2005, the ‘Incredible India’ campaign adopted a 360 degree approach. Digital brochures were placed on major websites like Yahoo!, rediff, etc, and ads for promotional DVDs16 were carried in major business and special interest magazines. Incredible India postcards inserts were placed along with all railway tickets bought online. In view of the immense popularity that the game of cricket enjoyed in India, ‘Incredible India’ polls based on cricket were placed on major Indian portals and websites to promote domestic tourism. In the same period, the ministry of tourism held a photography contest which was advertised on major Indian websites. The contest required participants to send photos depicting unique aspects of India and explain why they felt their entry was ‘uniquely Indian’. The participants stood to win an all-expense paid four day/five night trip to a destination within India.

As part of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, live online chats with ‘Incredible Indians’ – Indians who had made it big in their chosen areas - were arranged in February 2005 on www.indiachats.com. Some of the celebrities who participated in the chats were Rohit Bal (fashion designer), Amman & Ayaan Ali (Indian classical musicians), Sanjeev Kapoor (chef & host of popular culinary shows on TV), Shankar Mahadevan (music composer & singer), Kiran Bedi (police officer), etc.

In March 2005, the ministry of tourism announced its proposal to form a panel of ad agencies that would be responsible for literature, brochures, websites, and other works related to the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. Forty-eight agencies expressed their interest in participating. The ministry selected 15 ad agencies including O&M, the agency which had handled the account until then. The other agencies which were selected were Grey, Leo Burnett, Lintas IMAG, RK Swamy BBDO, Indian Tourism Development Corporation, Vivid India Advertising, Crayons Advertising, BAG Films, Opal Advertising, F.S. Advertising, Span Communications, Centum Advertising, Square Communications, and Pamm Advertising. Newspaper reports suggested that the three-year contract was scheduled to begin from July 2005 and the ad agencies could expect a business of around Rs. 700 million.

In March 2005, a TV campaign ‘Let us go to India’ was launched in Japan and a campaign ‘Walk with Buddha’, in Thailand and China. Several roadshows were also organized as part of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign in Milan, Paris, and cities in Serbia and other East European countries. A tram in Berlin, Germany,

16 The Ministry of Tourism compiled the Incredible India advertisements in the form of a DVD. The DVD included the following advertisements- Incredible India Collage, Cultural Mosaic, soul Temples, Adventure Trails, City Scapes, Taj, Buddhist sites, Atithi Devo Bhava, Himalayas etc. advertisements to promote the DVD were placed in print media.

was painted with the ‘Incredible India’ colors and, it reportedly became the talk of the town. (Refer Table IV for top ten countries of origin for tourists to India).

Table IV: Top Ten Countries of Origin for Tourism to India in 2004

No. Country Arrivals

(In Millions)Share(In %)

1 USA 0.468 13.92 UK 0.459 13.63 Sri Lanka 0.130 3.94 France 0.129 3.85 Canada 0.118 3.56 Germany 0.096 2.97 Japan 0.096 2.98 Malaysia 0.071 2.19 Australia 0.068 2.010 Italy 0.060 1.8

Others 1.666 49.0World 3.367 100

Source: www.incredibleindia.org

In 2005, the tourism ministry launched several innovative schemes such as ‘Atithi devo bhava’, ‘Rural Tourism’, and ‘Priyadrashini’ under the ‘Incredible India’ umbrella. The ‘Atithi devo bhava’ (The Guest is God) program was a social awareness initiative of the ministry to sensitize the general Indian public to the importance of treating foreign tourists with respect and courtesy. As part of the program, taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, tourist police, and other people in select cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Agra, and Aurangabad, who interacted directly with tourists, were trained on personal hygiene, etiquette, English language skills, etc. The ministry planned to train and sensitize around 75,000 people by the end of 2006 under the program.

The ‘Rural Tourism’ scheme had the twin objectives of showcasing the uniqueness of the arts, crafts, and heritage of rural India and helping the rural folk benefit from tourism. In the first place, 63 rural areas were identified and Rs. 5 million was allotted to each area for upgrading approach roads, landscaping, cleaning water bodies, maintaining monuments, etc. the ministry joined hands with non-government organizations (NGOs) to provide a unique experience of rural India to discerning tourists. An exclusive website, www.exploreruralindia.com, was also launched.

Similarly, under the ‘Priyadarshini’ scheme, the ministry made efforts to bring more women into tourism related areas. For example, women were trained to drive vehicles so that they could become tourist taxi drivers. The ministry reportedly spent Rs 1 billion on the ‘Incredible India’ campaign in 2005.

THE CAMPAIGN 2006-2007

In early 2006, the tourism ministry organized an online contest called ‘Come to Paradise’. The contest, co-sponsored by the domestic airline, Indian, required

participants to answer questions on the airline and on the state of Jammu & Kashmir. The prize was a 4 day/5 night vacation in Jammu & Kashmir.

Also, the original team of Incredible India collaborated again. In 2006, Delhi based creative agency (A), founded by V Sunil, was called in to create the new global campaign for 2006-07. The print and outdoor executions combined spectacular images with a wry, self-assured tone – a far cry from the bowing and scraping of past campaigns.

The ministry engaged the services of Media Mindscapes17 for the display of ‘Incredible India’ advertisements in Out-of-Home media (billboards, LED panels, building wraps, panels on buses/trams etc) in several cities around the world. Since an Indian ad company could not directly buy ad space in foreign countries18, Media Mindscapes worked with Grey Worldwide.19

The outdoor component of the campaign began in December 2005 and continued till March 2006. Since the campaign was targeted at the high-end of the market, the locations were chosen with care. While four billboards were placed at Times Square in New York, huge hoardings and display wraps made up the campaign at Cromwell Road in London and at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris.

“The way to go (for the ‘Incredible India’ campaign) was to identify the locations where we needed to advertise. As the category one is targeting is not globe-trotting backpackers, but people who are willing to shell out moneey, we had to choose locations that would reach out to SEC A+.”

- Paul Ranadeb, Partner, Media Mindscapes18

THE CAMPAIGN 2007-08

The ‘Colours of India’ campaign emphasized India’s diverse cultural spectrum. Featuring breathtaking images and colour-based headlines such as Coffee Brown and Red Hot, the campaign was launched globally in 71 leading newspapers and magazines. Using traditional and interactive media - print, outdoor and the internet - India was positioned as a unique and vibrant destination for tourists. This was the second campaign developed by Leena Nandan, Joint Secretary (Tourism) and V Sunil, Executive Creative Director, Wieden+Kennedy Delhi.

THE CAMPAIGN 2008-09

The India Tourism 2008 campaign was based on the experiences of those who came to visit India as tourists and stayed back to make India their home. It 17 Media Mindscapes is a Bangalore-based-out-of-home media service provider18 Tuhina Anand, “How Difficult was it to Place Brand India at Times Square?” www.agencyfaqs.com, February 16, 200619 Grey Worldwide is a part of the New York-based Grey Group- leading marketing communications company

takes a special bond with the country and its people to give up everything you know and set up home, take roots in India. These are the people who’ve truly embraced the culture and assimilated it into their being. As opposed to those who’ve simply being ‘bitten by the India bug’. Staying back is prompted by a decision that will change their lives forever. It is not a mere whim or adventure. It is the commitment of a lifetime. There are several people like this in India. A careful process was followed to select the ones who could be ambassadors to the Indian culture. The creative idea employed a simple device that stated their country of birth, followed by text that said ‘Motherland: India’.

THE CAMPAIGN 2009-10

The Ministry of Tourism in the year 2009-10, released 5 international campaigns till December 2009, to promote India as an year round, attractive, multi-cultural, modern and sports friendly destination. These Campaigns are Print Campaign Europe, Print Campaign Americas, Print Campaign Asia Pacific, Print Campaign Global and TV Campaign Asia Pacific. Major part of the activity was undertaken in the select TV channels, magazines, in-flight magazines and newspapers.

The Ministry is regularly producing its ‘Incredible India’ bi-monthly magazine. This magazine is produced along with the Ministry’s newsletter featuring major activities undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India undertook a series of promotional initiatives to minimize the negative impact of the global economic meltdown and the terrorist attack in Mumbai and to promote tourism to India.

A Visit India Year 2009 Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in April 2009 in collaboration with all stakeholders including airlines, hotels, tour operators, for incentivising travel to India. Under the Scheme, participating airlines, hotels and tour operators have provided incentives by way of one complimentary air passage for a travelling companion, one night complimentary stay in the hotel booked by the tourist and complimentary sightseeing tour in any one city of visit. In addition Rural Eco-packages and Wellness packages were also offered to tourists from overseas.

As part of the promotional initiatives undertaken, Road Shows were organized in important tourist generating markets overseas with participation of different segments of the travel industry.

As part of the celebration of the “Year of India in Russia” mega promotional events featuring Indian culture and cuisine were held in Moscow and St. Petersburg in September 2009. The highlights of the Incredible India Event were the India Evenings organised at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, Moscow and at the Grand Hotel Europe, St. Petersburg. The India Evenings comprised a cultural performance to showcase India’s rich cultural heritage, followed by an Indian dinner. The India Evenings were followed by four-day long India Food Festivals in both cities. To coincide with the Events, an integrated outdoor advertising

campaign and Print Media campaign were launched in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Ministry of Tourism supported a major India promotional event “India Calling” organized by the National Geographic Society in Los Angeles in September 2009. The event showcased Indian music, culture, cuisine and handicrafts. Chefs from leading hotel chains in India and crafts persons from Rural Tourism projects in the country were taken for the event.

The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, through the India tourism office in London undertook an advertising campaign in the print and outdoor media in London to coincide with the Queens Baton Relay for the Commonwealth Games 2010, which was flagged off from the Buckingham Palace on 29th October, 2009. The campaign included advertisements at Heathrow Airport, on hoardings, billboards, LED Screens and bus shelters at prominent locations in London city as well as in leading daily newspapers.

Indiatourism, New York arranged for the premier screening of the film “Quest for the One-horned Rhino” a film produced by Richard Bangs, world renowned travel pioneer, author and producer, at the Explorers Club, New York on 17th September, 2009. The film focuses on the story of wildlife conservation in the state of Assam, with particular reference to the one horned rhino.

Indiatourism offices overseas have participated in the major international Travel Fairs and Exhibitions in important tourist generating markets the world over as well as in emerging and potential markets to showcase and promote the tourism products of the country. These include Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, PATA Travel Mart in Hangzhou, China, China International Travel Mart in Shanghai, ITB – Asia in Singapore, World Travel Market (WTM) in London, IMEX in Frankfurt, FITUR in Madrid and ITB in Berlin.

For promotion of Indian Cuisine, which is an integral component of the Indian Tourism product, support has been extended to Indian Food Festivals organized in Buenos Aires (Argentina), Montevideo (Uruguay), Colombia and Ecuador, Beijing (China), Dubai (UAE), Durban and Johannesburg (South Africa).

Indiatourism offices have also participated in / supported Cultural Festivals, including the “Namaste India” Festival in Tokyo, Festivals of India in Argentina, Indonesia and Ireland, “India Week” in Reykjavik, Iceland, the “Shared Histories” Cultural Festival in South Africa and a “Discover Incredible India” Cultural Festival in Los Angeles.

For greater visibility of “Incredible India”, outdoor advertising campaigns including advertising on taxis / buses / trams, hoardings and billboards have been undertaken in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Kunming, Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Sydney, Singapore, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, Doha, etc.

Tourist Publications have been printed in foreign languages, by the overseas offices, to meet the requirements of the markets under their jurisdiction. These include Mandarin, Cantonese, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Polish, Croatian, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish.

CAMPAIGN DURING BEIJING OLYMPICS

In its mission to expand India as a popular tourist destination, Tourism Ministry of India decided to do a month long Incredible India campaign in Beijing, during Olympic. The campaign showcased the country’s rich heritage and culture, and accordingly the campaign was highlighted in crucial subways and junctions of Beijing city.

 An extensive advertisement was placed in major newspapers like the China Daily and South China Post during the Olympics. The special focus was given on campaign on the occasion of the Indian Independence Day celebrations on Aug 15 in Beijing. Both, India and China have extended their hand of friendly relations recently to promote tourism mutually.

Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni inaugurated the 14th overseas office of the Ministry of Tourism in Beijing. India saw lots of potential in the Beijing 2008 Olympics as it provided a great opportunity to promote India as tourist destination worldwide. Also the promotional brochures were made available in the Chinese language to educate Chinese people about India.

TOURISM PRODUCTS

The National Tourism Policy has identified certain tourism products which have the potential to attract foreign tourists. Extensive promotional strategies have been incorporated for each of these niche products under the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, which are detailed below.

HERITAGE TOURISM

Heritage tourism is a combination of emerging trends in tourism as a whole, and the ever growing sophistication of cultural heritage conservation activities, particularly for the major monuments and historic cities.

Important locations/centres include Agra Fort, Ajanta Caves, Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi, Champaner-Pavagadh, Archaeological Park, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Churches and Convents of Goa, Elephanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Fatehpur Sikri, etc.

India’s Stronghold:

India’s history and virile culture laid out over ages Wide array of locations of interest, a considerable no. of them listed in

the world heritage location

As far as no. of Heritage sites are concerned, India ranks 7th in the world after Italy, France, China, Germany, France and UK

WILDLIFE TOURISM

Wildlife Tourism is a real treat for people who love the flora and fauna. This pertains to travel to the different serene locations in order to enjoy the wilderness of nature, animals in their natural settings.

Important Locations/Centres include Corbett National Park, Kanha National Park, Bandhavgarh National Park, Ranthambore, Madhumalai, Nagarhole, Kaziranga, Periyar, Bharatpur, Little Rann of Kutch, Chilika , Sunderbans, etc.

India’s Stronghold:

Home to some rare species in the biogeographical realm, example Sunderbans –Royal Bengal Tiger, Bhitarkanika – Olive, Ridley Turtle, Gir –Asiatic Lions, Kaziranga – One Horned Rhino

70 National Parks and 400 wildlife sanctuaries Some of them Ramsar and World heritage wildlife sites 183 of the above inventory has been listed in the website of ministry of

tourism as prime ones, the break up is as follows:o North – 43o East – 28,o West – 45o South – 58o Central – 9

ECO-TOURISM

Travel to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery of its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects found in these areas.

Important locations/centres include Backwaters, Spice Farms of Kerala; Rishikesh, Uttaranchal; Rajgarh & Tirthan of Himachal Pradesh; SaatTal, Mukteshwar; Nainital and Mori of Uttaranchal, and Western Ghats and Rainforest of Karnataka.

India’s Stronghold:

Exquisite bouquet of natural destinations Large no. of destinations in the different states can also be promoted

involving the nature, tourists, communities, agencies involved etc

MEDICAL TOURISM

Medical Tourism is a concept where a patient travels to another country for medical treatment/ relaxation needs in order to save costs, or get treatment faster or even to avail of better medical facilities.

Important locations/centres include Ayurveda – Kerala; Hi Tech Healing – Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi; SPA – Kerala, UP (Agra), UT (Mussourie) Tamil Nadu (Conoor), Karnata (Mysore), Rajasthan (Neemrana), Rishikesh (Ananda), Haryana (Nolta); Yoga – Haridwar, Bangalore, Rishikesh; etc.

India’s Stronghold:

India has a reasonably strong portfolio of Ayurveda and Yoga, which is believed to have originated from here.

High level expertise in heart surgery, knee replacement, other orthopaedic treatments, cosmetic surgery, eye care, dental treatment

Cheapest pricing options amongst South East Asia nations Language advantage – Indians are eloquent speakers in English

compared to other South East Asian countries, which are direct competitors in this category

“Medical Tourism – A new area of growth”, highlighted the fact that yoga, meditation, Ayurveda, allopathy and other systems of medicines were already the country’s forte. India has on offer an inviting basket of medical services and it has resulted in the country emerging as a healthcare hub for overseas patients from countries such as USA, UK, New Zealand and Australia among others. During 2005, about 1,50,000 foreigners landed in India to take advantage of the comparatively low-priced and efficient medical services available in the country.

ADVENTURE TOURISM

Adventure Tourism is a type of niche tourism involving exploration or travel to remote areas, wherein the traveller should expect the unexpected.

India’s Stronghold:

India has the potential for all major adventure sports enlisted. The lofty peaks, fast flowing rivers and huge coastline provide immense

opportunity for developing tourism of this kind

RURAL TOURISM

Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural location, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be termed as rural tourism. In simpler words, the concept revolves round visiting village settings to experience and live a relaxed and healthy lifestyle.

India’s Stronghold:

Rural India the backbone of Indian society and economy This is a unique product for India. No major competitor exists in the

world in relation to this product India has nearly 7 million villages Each village has distinctive culture and craft, which is different from that

of the neighbouring village or village in neighbouring state

MICE TOURISM

Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions, are now a major mode to attract the overseas tourists. India already has an exciting inventory of locations to cater the visiting business delegates.

India’s Stronghold:

Foreign investment spurred by globalisation, more and more foreigners choosing India for their Seminars and conferences

The MICE segment is growing in India at 15% - 20% annually Excellent infrastructural amenities for business delegates International and Domestic Air network reach out to the different

important centres Railway network most intricate in the world Excellent network of roads

MICE is an important component already in the not-so-peak seasons. The state of Kerala is bullish about the growing popularity of MICE travel and its focused implementation is beginning to produce results. During the last couple of years, 15-20 per cent of total visitors to the state were MICE travelers and the numbers are gradually on the rise. Kovalam primarily receives leisure travelers – foreigners coming in for ayurvedic treatments and domestic travelers for weekends. However, sensing the potential of MICE, KTDC is planning to develop a state-of-the-art convention facility at Akulam, 14 km from Kovalam, at a cost of Rs 140 crore over the next three years. At the moment, in Kovalam, The Leela Kempinski is the only property with a convention center having a seating capacity of 1,000.

BUDDHIST CIRCUIT

A pilgrimage tour that is gaining considerable popularity in recent times is that of Buddhism. This is a product branded exclusively for the Buddhist sect. Each location has a significant role in the life of the Lord or were instrumental in propagating Buddhism in India .

A strong bouquet of Buddhist spots/ locations A wide array of archaeological spots, religious locations, architectural

marvels – all of them together in a single country

GOLF TOURISM

Golfing in India is gaining a lot of popularity in the global golfing community. Golf Tourism is one of the innovative products which have been envisaged to attract the high end tourists to India.

India’s Stronghold:

Indian Weather - The perfect outdoor temperatures starting late October till the first half of December and from February till late March.

World Class Golf Courses – The country has world class golf courses which include golf courses designed by internationally renowned designers and historically important golf courses.

Choice of Locations – The country offers choice of different locations which have distinct landscape and weather offering immense variety to the golfers.

India offers some of the greatest golfing challenges including world class designer golf courses and other golf courses with historical importance. Some of the major golf courses/clubs in the country are Air Force Golf Club, Delhi Golf Club, Army Golf Course, Qutub Golf Course, Jaypee Greens Golf Club, etc.

OTHER TOURISM PRODUCTS

Other niche tourism products include:

Cruise Tourism Wellness Tourism Caravan Tourism Heliport Tourism Accessible Tourism

TOURISM CAMPAIGNS OF SOME NATIONS

MALAYSIA

Malaysia is a federation of 13 states in Southeast Asia, formed in 1963. The country is a mix of various cultures and ethnic groups. The tourism industry is one of the major economic drivers of Malaysia.

TOURISM IN MALAYSIA

INDUSTRY STATUS

The tourism industry in Malaysia is a very large sector of the economy. The country’s contribution to global tourism market is around 0.5% and the tourism sector contributes around 4.6% to the country’s GDP. Malaysia received around 15 million tourists and ranked number 13 worldwide in tourist arrivals in the year 2004.20

TOURISM DESTINATIONS/RESOURCES

The main attraction of the country is its multicultural heritage and rich natural resources. The prime destinations of Thailand are:

Kuala Lumpur – It is the capital city of the country and the prime attraction for visitors. The city has state of art infrastructural facilities and cosmopolitan culture making it an attractive destination internationally.

Melaka – The historical attractions of Melaka make it a popular destination.

Langkawi Islands – The natural beauty of the islands make it a popular destination.

TOURISM PRODUCTS

The key tourism products promoted by country are:

Culture and Heritage – The multicultural heritage of the country is one of its key tourism products.

MICE – The country promotes MICE tourism in a big way offering its state of the art infrastructural facilities and leisure options.

Islands – The rich coastal flora and fauna of the country is promoted as a distinct tourism product.

20 World Tourism Organization

Adventure – The country offers adventure tourism to the international travellers

PROMOTIONAL MODES

The promotional strategy of the country focuses on the multicultural heritage of the country. The 'Malaysia, Truly Asia' campaign carved a niche in the tourism market by positioning Malaysia as a multicultural one-stop destination. The campaign highlights the country's rich blend of cultures along with its natural attractions. The major promotional modes are campaigns in the electronic and print media as also visibility creation through trade shows and promotions. The tourism ministry also runs a media centre which constantly updates new stories, press releases and facts to the media.

SINGAPORE

Singapore, is an island city-state and the smallest country in Southeast Asia. It is a popular destination for tourists worldwide.

TOURISM IN SINGAPORE

INDUSTRY STATUS

Singapore is a popular travel destination, making tourism one of its largest industries. In 2004, a total of 5.7million tourists visited Singapore.20

TOURISM DESTINATIONS/RESOURCES

The major attraction of Singapore is its cultural diversity that reflects almost 200 years of colonial history with immigrant cultures originating from Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and Arab ethnicities. The Orchard Road district, which is dominated by multi-storey shopping centres and hotels, is the centre of tourism in Singapore. Other popular tourist attractions include the Singapore Zoo and its Night Safari along with the tourist island of Sentosa.

TOURISM PRODUCTS

The key tourism products promoted by country are:

Leisure – The country has developed infrastructural facilities of global standards and offers a multitude of leisure options. The major leisure options being promoted are Shopping and Food. Singapore has developed specialized promotional campaigns which focus on the country being the food capital of Asia.

Art and Culture MICE – One of the key tourism products of the country is MICE tourism.

PROMOTIONAL MODES

The promotional campaign of Singapore projects the image of the country as a unique destination in South East Asia..The country has adopted a variety of innovative promotional modes such as organizing events especially for its target customers such as Shopping Festivals and celebrity promotion where celebrities promote the country (e.g. Krissh moive promoted Singapore) It has developed specialized campaigns for its different target markets.

THAILAND

Thailand is located in south East Asia and is one the world’s largest countries in sheer size. Tourism is one of the key drivers of economic growth for the country.

TOURISM IN THAILAND

INDUSTRY STATUS

The tourism industry in Thailand is a very large sector of the economy. The country contributes around 0.6% to the global tourism market and the tourism indsutry contributes around 6.5% to the country’s GDP. Thailand ranked number 18 in tourist arrivals worlwide in 2004, receiving around 11 million tourists.

TOURISM DESTINATIONS/RESOURCES

The country’s mix of oriental culture and natural beauty is its prime attraction. The prime destinations in the country are:

Bangkok - Bangkok was founded in 1782 by the first monarch of the present Chakri dynasty. It is now the country's spiritual, cultural, diplomatic, commercial and educational hub. For tourists, Bangkok has a feast of attractions to offer. The city is dotted with 400 Buddhist temples, palaces, classical dance extravaganzas, numerous shopping centres and traditional ways of life, especially along the canals and the Chao Phraya River winding through the city.

Phukhet - Located approximately 862 kilometers south of Bangkok is Phuket, Thailand's largest island. Its natural resources- rocky peninsular, limestone cliffs, white powdery beaches, tranquil broad bays and tropical in-land forests contribute to making it the south East Asia’s most visited and most popular island and province.

Pattaya - Pattaya is nestled along a picturesque bay on the East Coast of the Gulf of Thailand, roughly 170 kilometers southeast of Bangkok and offers an exotic holiday beach vacation.

TOURISM PRODUCTS

The key tourism products promoted by country are:

Culture – The unique cultural heritage of the country is its prime tourism product.

Adventure – The country offers a multitude of adventure options for travelers and promotes adventure tourism as one of the key tourism products.

Eco Tourism – The country is promoting its natural resources through eco-tourism.

Medical tourism – The country is offering its state of the art medical facilties to the international travelers and medical tourism is one of the newly developed products of its tourism campaign.

Leisure – The country offers a plethora of leisure options and it is one of the key tourism products being promoted by the country.

PROMOTIONAL MODES

The promotional strategy of the country is based on the image of Thailand as an exotic destination having unique culture and abounding in natural beauty. The major promotional modes are campaigns in the electronic and print media. The country is also part of ASMECS which is a regional tourism cooperation agency between five countries - Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. As part of the promotional strategy to develop tourism in these five countries, ASMECS offers incentives to the travellers to visit all the five countries together as one destination.

Strong brand building is to be the primary strategy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), as it seeks to achieve a target of 13.8 million in 2007. The new marketing slogan, Thailand Unforgettable, is a key component of the strategy, which will also include strong efforts to maintain the market share, boost tourism revenue earnings and enhance Thailand’s competitive edge.

TAT has set its 2007 target at 15 million international visitors. This year, TAT researched its competitive position and found that Thailand featured amongst the top 10 destinations in the holiday segments of beach holidays, family destinations, nightlife and conventions. Research by other publications like Lonely Planet, popular with the young people, show that Thailand is already the top-rated destination in terms of value and food. It has also been rated as having the “most exciting outdoor market.”

Under the new Thailand Unforgettable slogan, the marketing activities will seek to accentuate Thailand’s key strengths as a destination: sun, sand and sea; the modern and the traditional; and shopping, dining and golfing. Visitors should leave with memories of Thailand as a kingdom of unforgettable beauty, luxury, culture and adventure.

Five new tourism products and services have been identified to cater to the needs of specific market segments: Classic Destinations, Emerging Destinations, Sport Activities, Trendy Products and Special Product of the Year.

In each segment, the following have been identified in a way that allows the key product highlights to be matched with the destinations that best offer them: Classic Destinations (Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Samui and Chaing Mai); Emerging Destinations (Ko Chang, Ko Lanta); Sport Activities (Golfing, Driving and Yachting); Trendy Products (Boutique Hotel, Spa and Wellness, Medical Tourism); Special Product of the Year (The Royal Flora Ratchaphruck 2006 – the international horiticultural exposition to be held from November 1, 2006 – 31 January, 2007, in the northern city of Chaing Mai.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ‘INCREDIBLE INDIA’ CAMPAIGN

SUCCESS

Travel industry analysts and tour operators were appreciative of the high standards of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. Average travelers too appeared to find the campaign interesting and informative, going by the favorable comments on blogs and travel websites.

“The promo campaign is making a powerful visual impact and creating a perception of India being a magical place to visit.”

- Anne Morgaon Scully, President, McCabe Bremer Travel, Virginia, USA21

The first phase (March 2002 to April 2002) of the online campaign, which included more than 75 banners, succeeded in attracting 31 million impressions.22 During the period, the campaign achieved a click-through rate23 of 0.45% on international sites and 1.24% on domestic sites. The average cost per unique visitor was estimated to be Rs. 9. Page views at www.incredibleindia.org website increased from 1,409 prior to the campaign to 2,286,805 in a span of less than two months. The hits to the website touched 13 million per month.

In the period between December 2002 and March 2003, the website attracted more than 0.37 million visits (Refer Table V for the region-wise distribution of the origin of website visits).

Table V: Region-wise Website Visits Dec-2002 to March-2003

Region Total Visits Per CentAsia 188,116 49.96

North America 125,573 33.34Oceania 37,760 10.03Europe 22,853 6.07

South America 1,192 0.32Africa 1,055 0.28

376,549 100

21 Liz Mathew, “Promoting an Incredible Brand Called India,” www.southasianobserver.com, 200522 Impression is a single view of a web page or banner on a website23 Click-through rate is the number of times an advertisement on a website is clisked compared to the number of times it is displayed. Royalties are based on click-through rates. It is also a measure of effectiveness of one’s website’s ability to persuade a visitor to visit another website

Source: www.incredibleindia.org

That the online campaign during 2004 and 2005 was successful in drawing attention was evident from the fact that page views touched the 25 million mark in April 2005.

More importantly, the campaign was successful in boosting international tourist arrivals. “In 2004, the Incredible India campaign led to 36 percent growth in US dollar terms and 25 percent in number of tourist (both domestic and foreign),” said Amitabh Kant (Kant), Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.

<Table VI & VII>

The upward surge in tourist numbers continued in 2005 as well (Refer Table VI for International Tourist Arrivals in India & Table VII for International Tourist Receipts for India ), and it resulted in brisk business for hoteliers and other tourism-related enterprises. Only once did we see growth of this kind and that was some years after the liberalization of the Indian economy had begun, but even then it was a corporate-driven boom. This is pure tourism,” said Vijay Srinivasan, Deputy General Manager at Le Passage in New Delhi, which arranged high-end package tours mostly for French tour groups.

Domestic tourism too witnessed healthy growth levels. (Table VIII).

GLOBAL RECOGNITION

The last few years have been highly successful for India Tourism. In fact, tourism in India has come into its own as a brand – India Tourism. The ‘Incredible India’ campaign has enabled India to penetrate global market and reach the ultimate consumer through electronic, print and internet media. The creation of niche tourism products like heliport tourism, medical tourism, wellness tourism, adventure tourism, cruise tourism and caravan tourism has served to widen the net of this sector.

On account of the spurt that India has witnessed in tourist arrivals in the recent times and given the unique and immense potential the country has as a ‘vacation destination’, The World Travel and Tourism Council has identified India as one of the foremost tourism growth centres in the world, in the coming decade.

Integrated endeavours of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India have led to India winning the following international acclaims:

- In the Conde Nast Traveler Readers’ Travel Awards 2005, India was voted among the top five destinations for the discerning traveler, ahead of France, USA, and Singapore.

- India amongst the top 5 favorite destinations – Lonely Planet in a survey of 167 countries

- ABTA (Association of British Travel Agency) has ranked India as No. 1 amongst top 50 places for 2006

- The Incredible India campaign has been the winner of PATA Gold Award for best Print Ad Campaign and PATA Gold Award for Best Destination Marketing Campaign The Incredible India Campaign has been ranked as the ‘Highest Recall Advertisement worldwide by Travel and Leisure

- World Travel Awards received for a) Asia’s Leading Destination b) World’s leading Travel Destination Television Commercial c) Worlds’ Leading Responsible Tourism Project, for Endogenous Tourism Project and d) Asia's leading tourism and convention bureau

Increasingly, Tourism as a sector seems to be emerging to be one of the main driving engines of the Indian Economy.

CRITICISMS

Although the ‘Incredible India’ campaign was generally well received, industry observers differed in their opinions on the positioning of India in the campaign. For example, G.S. Murari, Director, Fidelis Advertising and Marketing Pvt. Ltd., said he was uncomfortable with the tagline ‘Incredible India’. He was of the opinion that since India was not a uni-dimensional country like Singapore or the Maldives, suing a word like ‘incredible’ to describe India as a whole was not appropriate. He argued that a single word could never describe a multi-faceted country like India. He said, “The best way to present this complex nation is to ask people to ‘Discover India’.” Another report in a popular daily also criticized the choice of tagline, although for a different reason. The reporter said, “As a tourism brand, should India be arrogant enough to assume it is ‘incredible’?” Perhaps we should let the visitors decide that.

Others had problem with the contents of the ads. One analyst said, “They all seem to focus on rural women spinning around with pots on their heads… there’s nothing wrong with pushing our history, but by dropping in some stuff from modern India we can really change people’s perceptions. India must be marketed as a nation where futurism runs alongside tradition.”

Still others felt that heritage was the country’s USP, and that it should be used extensively in the communication campaigns. “Heritage should be the main plank to market India as a whole with different states then plugging on to it and highlighting their own USPs and establishing their own customer bases,” said Pawan Khanna, Managing Director, Rainbow Travels. In contrast, a section of industry watchers felt that marketing the heritage aspect alone would not help in the long run and that the country should diversify its tourist product. One such analyst said, “India will somehow need to be positioned on multiple platforms in multiple markets and relying solely on heritage and culture as USP will stagnate tourism growth in the long term.” Neeraj Ghei, Director, Select Holidays, said, “The single most important reason for the first time visitors to India still remains the heritage and culture of this country and will remain so for some time to come. However, it is not a sustainable USP for India as a whole.

Some analysts felt that there was an over use of images of the Taj Mahal in the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. One said, “They really need to get off the Taj kick.

I’m sure France tourism features much more than the Eiffel Tower. Interestingly, the government of India is spending cold, hard cash to push the same visual shorthand.” The general public also seemed to feel that the campaign was going overboard with the Taj Mahal. One comment on a travel blogsite read, “… there are too many ads based around Taj Mahal. The pictures are wonderful, but I think India is already heavily associated with the Taj Mahal, and everybody knows what the Taj Mahal looks like! India has so many wonderful monuments and sites. It should be a shame to reinforce the idea that India has the Taj Mahal without showing how much else India has to offer.”

Also, the images of Taj Mahal were digitally enhanced in the print ads to make them look more appealing. Some tourists expressed their disappointment when they actually saw the Taj Mahal. One tourist said, “… the ad campaigns depict the Taj with a clean blue Yamuna river flowing nearby, but the reality is that Yamuna is polluted and dirty and does not look anything like it is depicted in the picture.”

Industry watchers pointed out that tourist loyalty was a prized objective in the tourism industry and warned that if there was a gap between what was promised and what was delivered, tourists would not return. One angry international tourist operator who had to face the ire of customers disappointed with their trip to India said, “ India should first set its house in order before showcasing itself as an incredible destination. Otherwise, it will simply end up being an incredulous place to visit.”

Some observers even wondered if the campaign had really been successful. They felt that the increase in tourist flows had been marginal, to say the least. They cited the example of Malaysia’s ‘Truly Asia’ campaign, which reportedly succeeded in tripling the number of international tourists from 5.5 million in 1998 to 15.7 million tourist in 2004. (Table(s)).

Since tourism was a matter that fell in the state list, the central government (i.e. the Government of India) found it difficult to integrate the ‘Incredible India’ campaign with the tourism promotion campaigns of individual states. (Table). The ‘Incredible India’ campaign largely marketed India as a single entity. Kant said, “We have never looked at promoting Indian states individually. We have always promoted India as a whole by focusing on themes, spirituality and India as a journey of mind and soul.” Though the tourism policy 2002 proposed to bring tourism into the concurrent list so as to enable the state governments and the central government to contribute to the development of the tourism industry, this did not happen. In spite of the fact that every state in the Indian Union was endowed with natural beauty and a unique character, only a handful of them were able to market themselves successfully. The ‘golden triangle’ (Delhi, Agra & Jaipur), Kerala, and Goa were the tourist hotspots in the country. Some analysts felt that the ‘Incredible India’ campaign could have been integrated with individual state campaigns, thus reducing costs.

However, most industry experts felt that the country had not been marketed enough earlier and that the ‘Incredible India’ campaign was a step in the right

direction. One industry observer said, “Indian tourism ails from a clear lack of awareness of its true potential. You would be surprised how many people from developed countries still think of India as a country with a billion poor people mired in disease, hunger, and suffering.” But, in spite of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, the country had received only a small fraction of the total number of international tourists. Other analysts therefore felt that the need of the hour was not an expensive ad campaign but fundamental improvements in both general as well as tourism-related infrastructure.

These infrastructure problems not only inconvenienced tourists who actually chose to visit the country but also caused negative word-of-mouth. And the growing popularity of travel blogs ensured that the problems were highlighted. The state of Indian roads seemed to receive the most criticism. One traveler wrote, “It took almost two hours to travel about 50 miles. This was typical of most of our driving experiences in India. The roads are in varying states of disintegration and must be driven very slowly to keep passengers from being bounced out of the car windows (no seat belts).” Another commented about the approach roads to the ‘golden triangle’ – “The road to Jaipur and Agra is a one-lane highway that serves both directions, so it was a constant battle of wits between the drivers. It is narrow, full of potholes and so poorly maintained that after a long ride, one gets to feel like a bowl of mashed potatoes!”

Critics of the campaign argued that the multi-million dollar effort was a futile exercise because India did not have the necessary infrastructure to entertain more tourists than it was already getting. Deep Kalra, CEO, makemytrip.com, as a travel portal, said, “We want more tourists to come to India, but unless we get more budget hotels, it will be a problem for the industry. In fact a number of big operators have crossed India off their lists for this because of the same problem.” Most tourist operators felt that tourist-related infrastructure was non-existent at many tourist destinations in India. Even where it did exist, it was of inferior quality. One tourist said, “It is not quite easy getting around India… Despite the relatively high percentage of natives who speak English, the tourism network in India is nonexistent. When you go to visit the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel next door, there really aren’t many signs, tourist maps, historic information, or even tour guides around to help you.”

Bureaucratic hurdles in the issuing of visas also worked to keep the number of tourists down. A prospective tourist from Bulgaria was agitated when her application for a six-month tourist visa was rejected. She said, “I have just encountered my first clash with Indian bureaucracy! They say I need a letter-invitation from an Indian citizen in order to get a 6-month visa!” Tourists from West European countries, however, faced fewer problems. Also, politically sensitive areas like the North East required special entry permits, which caused problems for genuine tourists.

It was not as if GoI was not aware of the problems that the tourism industry in the country faced. The Indian Planning Commission’s Ninth Five-Year Plan eloquently stated that India’s tourism woes were caused by “a lack of

professionalism, unhygienic conditions, lack of easily available information, poor infrastructure, lack of safety, poor visitor experience, restrictive air transport policy, inadequate facilitation services, multiplicity of taxes, and low priority accorded to tourism.” An A.T. Kearney/CII exit poll of 600 outgoing tourists from Indira Gandhi International Airport carried out in 2000 had also indicated that the state of the roads and the lack of basic civic amenities were the nightmares of the tourists visiting the country. However, the GoI, to its credit had been raising the budgetary allocation for tourism over the years. (Table).

<Table III>

However, some industry watchers remained unimpressed. “One ‘Incredible India’ campaign cannot change the system. It is not a question of budget or innovation but is a matter of creating a serious brand out of India as a tourist destination. There are countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, etc., which are extremely aggressive in promoting the tourism options of the region. This drive is lacking in India, and should be spearheaded by the government.” said Ravi Raghavendra, Creative Director, Contract, an advertising agency.

Subhash Goyal, Chairman, Stic Travels Group and President, Indian Association of Tour Operators(IATO), said, “India’s failure to compete successfully with our neighbors is not so much because of our failure on marketing front as it is because of poor infrastructure, multiplicity of taxes, complexities and complications involved in issuance of visa and general poor law and order situation besides the undue publicity that the country gets due to incidents of terrorism in some parts of the country.”

OPPORTUNITIES

OUTLOOK

According to an article in April 2005 issue of Newsweek International, unlike traditional tourists who were content being passive spectators, modern tourists were increasingly interested in engaging with the places they visited. The articles listed volunteer tourism, luxury and vacation home, travel seeking spirituality, private islands and air cruises in private jets as the major emerging trends in the global tourism industry.

Some of these trends were visible even in India. For example, in March 2006, Thai Airways announced a charter flight service from Bangkok, Thailand, to Varanasi, India, for visitors to India’s Buddhist tourist circuit. The itinerary included Sarnath, Bodhgaya, Kushinagar, and Lumbini – places all associated with the Buddha.

In the same month, Turner International India Pvt. Ltd. announced that it would produce six new commercials for the ministry of tourism and telecast them on CNN, its news channel. The advertisements would be based on what the company called the ‘six pillars’ of Indian tourism, namely - health and beauty, modern art, golfing, fashion and shopping, cuisine and night life, and ‘hip’ hotels. “Tourism is one big focus for us and the department of tourism is a big client. After the ‘Incredible India’ campaign we are focusing on the six pillars of tourism as part of which we will bring celebrities from those spheres in the films and put them on air outside India”, explained Monica Tata, Vice President (India Advertising Sales).

According to projections made by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), India could expect to earn US$ 90.4 billion in revenues and create 28 million jobs from the tourism sector by 2014. There was also a general agreement that India could attract a larger number of tourists if it could capitalize on its distinct strengths and effectively market itself. However, irrespective of whether or not the ‘Incredible India’ campaign had proven successful in bringing in more tourists and revenues, infrastructure and other bottlenecks remained serious problems.

A comment by a Filipino traveler seemed to sum up the issue best – “Please take the time and visit Incredible India if you can and lay to rest all hearsay and/or misconceptions (like unbearable dust, dirt, smell, filth and poverty, and annoyingly assertive Indians) some of which are true to a point; but need we continue to stay intolerant and ignorant of their rich beautiful culture that is there for everyone to know, learn from, and enjoy?”