Tourist trail leads to sizzling south

Author: Chandrika Mago
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 4, 2004
URL: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/403226.cms

As foreign tourists knock again at India 's door, north India had better sit up and take note. The official feedback is that more visitors are now heading south. In the 1980s, says an official, 71 per cent of foreign tourists used to stick to north India. Now, just 48 per cent stay in the region as the southern experience and superior service scores. ''People are looking for new destinations,'' says the official. ''Growth to south India is becoming big.''
 
With cash registers ringing as the government's $ 4.5 million advertising blitz begins to show results, the feedback shows new patterns emerging as tourism booms after a two-year slump. In terms of foreign exchange earnings, the kitty has Rs 3,000 crore more - Rs 17,000 crore this year, against Rs 14,000 crore in the last financial year. Numbers are touching the 2.8 million mark. Domestic tourism, too, has shown a 22 per cent growth, numbers hitting 300 million.
 
But it's the emerging patterns which are interesting. Flying in the face of the global trend of short-haul tourism, the traditional European markets - Britain, France, Italy, Germany - have bounced back to seize about 39 per cent of the market share, up from 30.8 per cent earlier. North America is where it was, at about 10.8 per cent of total visitors. Officials are eyeing this market of ''big buck spenders'', citing the hitch of air connectivity.
 
New markets are beginning to open up. Turks and Koreans have shown interest. Heritage sites like Ajanta-Ellora are bringing in the Japanese. There is a greater need to focus on South-East Asia, admit officials, as they accept that denting neighbouring China will also take more time. Overall, the Asian and Australian market share is up from 13.5 per cent to 18 per cent.
 
Industry feedback indicates that foreigners are staying longer, from a fortnight's average stay to about 21 days now. They are also travelling to more than one destination within India. For instance, Russians heading for Goa also take in either Kerala or Rajasthan. So, is India as the multi- product destination becoming a reality? Officials would like to believe so.
 
Tourism minister Jagmohan says, ''Our effort has been to project a good image of India, synthesise the elements of culture, tourism and clean civic life, improve coordination between the Centre and states and with all segments in the tourism sector.''
 
The Indians went hammer and tongs at their international campaign, through the electronic and print media, internet and e-mail. India became visible on channels such as CNN, BBC and Discovery, internet sites such as those of the National Geographic and New York Times, or even yahoo.com and msn.com.
 
The campaign went regional for the first time, onto local German, French and Italian channels. The tourism website is now set for a Chinese makeover.
 
So, if predictions on 2004 as the boom year for tourism come true, will India get past the glass ceiling of three million tourists? This sore point has officials dismissive. ''The numbers game is totally irrelevant,'' says joint secretary Amitabh Kant. ''Tourists spend 21 days here, against two days in Thailand .'' But nobody denies that much more needs to be done on the ground if tourism is to fly high.
 

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