|
Related Articles |
|
 2012 Budget: Direct, indirect tax reforms to
miss deadline
Implementation of the Direct Tax Code (DTC), the proposed reforms
in the direct tax system, will miss the deadline of April 1, 2012,
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said Friday.
»
Budget, loans, silent taxes, rising prices, squeezed pockets-Who
Gains?
India's defence budget: Absence of strategic
vision
Realty
industry has little to cheer from budget
Union Budget: Growth, fiscal consolidation top challenges
India's growth disappointing, but recovering,
says Mukherjee in budget speech
Mukherjee holds pre-budget meeting with financial regulators
IT
industry worried over poll-results' impact on budget
UPA faces tough budget session of parliament |
Although India's latest budget has increased the allocation for
tourism by less than 10 percent, the tourism ministry remains
hopeful that it can bring in at least seven million foreign
tourists to the country during this fiscal year, an increase of
one million when compared to the six million figure of the last
year.
Some ministry officials hope to go even higher to almost 10
million tourists for 2012. They refer to the UNWTO target of one
billion tourists by 2012 and say even if they can bring just one
percent of them to India, they can reach the lofty target of 10
million.
They point out that the ministry plans to hold its own National
Travel Mart titled Global Travel Mart India in the year 2012-13.
Currently, India's tourism ministry has 14 overseas offices,
including in Paris, Frankfurt, New York, Toronto and Dubai, and to
enhance its reach across the globe, it has decided to appoint
marketing representatives in the countries where it does not have
tourism offices.
But the officials also acknowledge that there is a lot of work to
be done for the development of tourism in the country.
Besides building modern infrastructure, lowering luxury taxes can
be one of the effective steps. The tourism ministry has requested
other government departments to work with state governments on
this. The ministry has also requested hotels to cut tariffs.
It has the support of tour operators, who point to the fact that
Indian hotel tariffs remain high compared to most countries.
But the hotel industry argues that it is also driven by the market
as any other business and some of the hotels that have reduced the
rates by 30 percent are yet to see any improvement.
Experts say the approach to attracting more foreign tourists
should be two-pronged. One is to bring more foreigners to India
for tourism and the second is to keep them coming again and again.
That we can do, she says, by exposing them to the top exotic spots
of India which they would love to go to but have not visited so
far.
One expert suggests the ministry should start advertising about
those exotic spots in the departure lounges of the airports. For
example, he says, when foreign tourists end their vacation in Goa
and are ready to go home, the topmost question in their minds is
where to go on vacation next time. So, he says, we can use the
departure lounge of the Goa airport to advertise tourist spots
such as Kochi and Ooty. And then for the tourists who are ending
their vacations in the south, we can tell them how to enjoy the
pristine white sand beaches of Goa or the historical grandeur of
Rajasthan.
On its part, the tourism ministry is increasing awareness about
India in foreign countries through such campaigns as "Incredible
India" and based on the increase in the number of tourists so far,
it has been termed quite successful.
But B.B. Roy, assistant director general in the overseas marketing
division, is also up on domestic tourists, who, he says, are at
least several times more in numbers than foreign tourists. He says
the only way to do that is to add relevant ways to enhance the
enjoyment of the tourists. Manali, for example, he says, should
offer not just snowflakes and scenery but also skiing facilities
of international standards.
So, Roy says, when tourists, foreign or domestic, pick up a spot
they should get something more than just sightseeing so that the
whole family can enjoy the trip and go there again and again.
Ravi M. Khanna is a longtime South Asia observer who
has headed the South Asia Desk in the Voice of America newsroom in
Washington. His books include "TV News Writing Made Easy for
Newcomers", and he can be reached at ravitheactor@yahoo.com
|
Comments
|
Quick links