Benchmarking Indian Tourism With the Global Standard- a Critical Analysis
Introduction: The early history of tourism says people traveled from one place to another mainly because of food , shelter or just for curiosity. But in due course large scale mobility of people were caused by the natural elements of human pressure, entertainment or forced man to move to other location. Due to the absence of roads and other transport facilities, travel and tourism was a hard way to think of. This led to the emergence of land routes , river or sea navigation.
Now with dismantling of national boundaries, the tourism scenario is also changing. There is a steady growth in the number of tourist arrivals and more satisfactorily the average spending of foreign tourist has gone up.
Tourism Product: In the earth today any thing can be promoted as the tourism product anywhere.. It is not location specific as the agriculture and manufacturing sector do. India in particular has a 5000-year ?€“old heritage and thousands of monuments and archeological sites for the tourists to enjoy. The country abounds in attractive and well preserves historical sites and ancient monuments of architectural grandeur. India offers enormous diversity in topography, natural resources and climate. There are land- rocked mountainous regions, lush valleys and plains, arid desert regions, white sandy beaches and islands. Central India has numerous wildlife sanctuaries with countless varieties of flora and fauna. The country has unparallel cultural diversity, languages, religions, customs and traditions.
The major adventure tourism activities are trekking, and skiing in the Himalayas, river running in the Gangas, water sports in Goa, trout fishing in the Himachal Pradesh and many more. We have some of the best beaches of the world, many of which are still unexplored in Andaman and Lakshadweep islands.
Tourism Contribution: The impact of tourism in our country is multi dimensional. It is reflected on the economic, social, cultural, political and environmental issues and aspects of the country. In a more generic sense it develops understanding among the people, create jobs both directly and indirectly, augments foreign exchange reserves and helps in the overall economic wellbeing of the people.
Earnings from foreign tourist arrivals had grown strongly in the nineties and contributed to over Rs21,828 crores a year in the recent past. According to the World Tourism and Travel Council (WTTC) the industry provides direct employment to 262 million people who constitute 10.5% of the global workforce. These numbers are expected to grow to 383 million by the year 2007. Tourism also accounts for 8% of the world exports making it the largest internationally traded products or services.
Tourism in Global View: Tourism is the largest industry in the world next to the oil industry. In terms of earnings it has left automobiles and information technology industry behind. Tourism is the largest employer.
Table-1
Growth of International Tourists from 1948 to 2004
Sl No
Year
No. of Tourists
(in million)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1948
1964
1990
1996
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
14.0
144.0
458.5
591.9
687.3
684.1
702.6
694.0
760.0
Source: 1. WTO Statistics- Published in Tourism and Travel Management, p. 64.
2. India : Tourism and heritage Challenge, Communiqué: a Journal of Confederation of Indian Institutes, November 2001,p.3
The table shows that the 760 million international tourist arrivals during 2004 is the biggest increase since 1984 which shows the best growth in the past 20 years. There is an increase of 69 million of tourists during 2004 compared to 2003 with an increase of 10% growth. This is mainly attributed to the countries like China and USSR those who recognized the importance of tourism in their national economy. A study shows the leading advanced countries particularly the fourteen countries namely, USA, Germany, the UK, France, Canada, Austria, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia and Spain accounted for 78 percent of the world visitor arrivals.
Market Position of Tourism in India: For centuries India has been the centre of attraction for different people for different reasons. Ancient invaders viewed it as a gold mine with unlimited wealth to plunder. Where as others attracted to it because of its mystic spiritualism, sheer beauty of its natural manifestations and amazing variety of flora and fauna. These inherent advantages could have made India as an ideal destination. But various constraints have hampered the growth of tourism in India at the expected levels.
Table-2
Foreign Tourist Arrivals in India
S.No
Year
Arrivals
Changes
1
1991
1677508
——
2
1992
1867651
10.1%
3
1993
1764830
-05.8%
4
1994
1886433
6.4%
5
1995
2123683
11.1%
6
1996
2287860
7.1%
7
1997
2374094
3.6%
8
1998
2358629
-6.5%
9
1999
2481928
4.9%
10
2000
2641157
6.4%
11
2001
2536978
-4.0%
12
2002
2384384
-6.0%
13
2003
2726214
14.3%
14
2004
3367980
23.5%
Source: 1. Ministry of Tourism Annual report 1994-95
2. Dept . of Tourism Annual report up to 1999.
3. Economic Time 6.1.2002 Page 13
4. Business Line, New Delhi-09.01.2005
The travel and tourism business in India constitutes a pathetic 0.40 percent of the trillion-dollar world tourism industry and it remains stagnant over the past two decades. The above table shows since the beginning of the nineties the growth rate in the foreign tourist arrivals in India has recorded a highly fluctuated and erratic trend. The trend is mainly attributed to the terrorists attacks in USA and its subsequent apprehension on the security of the tourists. But surprisingly in 2004 , the foreign tourist arrivals crossed 3 million with an increase of 23.5% in India.
In contrast our neighboring countries are able to attract more foreign tourists. The Asian countries have increased their foreign tourist arrivals drastically in the last three years; Singapore 7 million, Thailand 11 million, Malaysia 14 million and above all China 36 million foreign tourists.
Contribution of Tourism to the Foreign Exchange Earnings: Tourism industry in India is thriving due to increase of foreign tourists arrivals during 2003-2004. This has significantly added to the foreign exchange reserves of the state.
Table-3
Foreign exchange earnings through tourism from 1998 to 2004 by India.
Sl No
Year
Amount (in US $)
Change over the previous year.
1
1998
2948
—-
2
1999
3009
2.1
3
2000
3168
5.3
4
2001
3042
4.0
5
2002
2923
3.9
6
2003
3533
20.8%
7
2004
4810
36.0%
Source: 1) Incredible India Figure-2003
2) Business Line New Delhi- 09.01.2005
During 2003 and 2004 the foreign exchange earnings from tourism was recorded US$ 3533, ( Rs 16,429 crore) and US $ 4810 (Rs 21828 crores) respectively. It was 20.8% and 36.0% increase over the previous respective periods. The tourism department anticipates a further hike in foreign tourists arrivals in the successive years.
Reasons for the growth of tourism: There are several reasons responsible for the growth of tourism in India. Among them the first one is our dramatic achievement in IT industry to make it as one of the major global IT hub. The second reason is attributed to the government effort. The nation wide publicity campaign ?€? The Incredible India?€? strategy during 2002 to 2004 proved successful of attracting more tourists. The advertising campaigns on the prominent TV channels and in magazines is a further step towards it. The initiative of public-private-participation for the development of tourist infrastructure is another reason. The intense competition in the airline industry between private and government airline companies in the form of cutting air tariffs and expanding their network increase the flow of tourist to India. In addition to the above the task force set up by the government to promote India as a prominent health tourist destination also attracted approximately 1,50,000 patients during 2004.
Problems: In spite of its growth rate during 2004, Indian tourism market constitutes around 0.4% of its world market share. India is unable to attract the expected number of foreign tourists despite extensive marketing efforts. The term India has not been sending the correct signals to travel enthusiasts across the glove. The image of India is portrayed to the world community is that of mysticism, political instability, grinding poverty, illiteracy, terrorism, unemployment, communal discord, lack of social services and corruptions. This image plays a very crucial role for de-motivating tourist to visit India and to visit the neighboring Asian countries.
Table-4
Government Expenditure on Tourism and Travel in 2001
Sl No
Name of the Country
Amount incurred in percent
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
India
Thailand
United Kingdom
Germany
China
USA
Sri Lanka
France
Malaysia
Honk Kong
Singapore
Spain
0.9
2.8
2.6
3.3
3.8
3.9
4.0
4.7
5.1
7.4
9.1
9.5
Source: Economic Times, October 28,2001, p.7
The table shows the investment in travel and tourism, in terms of Indian government expenditure is 0.9 percent of the total budget allocation in 2001 and in subsequent years it is very low compared to other countries. Though India has much to offer in terms of tourist attractions, there are major constraints on the growth of tourism particularly in terms of lack of sufficient airports facilities, international and domestic air- seat capacity, surface transport facilities, accommodation, restaurants shopping and recreational facilities, trained labor force and other support services. The beggars, touts, and unhygienic waste in important tourist places are the other stumbling blocks for the free movement of the foreign tourists.
Table -5
Country wise Comparison of Rooms Available in Hotels in the Year 2002
Country
Rooms available in hotels
China
8,97,206
Thailand
3,20,565
Malaysia
1,30,757
India
85,481
Singapore
35,989
Source: World Tourism Organization
The country wise comparison shows that India has a sheer insufficiency of hotel rooms for the tourists.
Measures to be taken: After analyzing the above drawbacks we can say that India has the ability to capitalize on its rich product composition to attract a higher proportion of the international tourists at least to 1% of the world market share. For this the above measures are suggested.
Significant improvement in transport network: Efforts have to be undertaken to improve the efficiency of Indian airline services along with the domestic air transport system. The airports , railway stations, bus stops and the roads have to be up graded to the global standard. Air connectivity has to be improved through public-private ?€“partnerships.
Liberalize the Visa restrictions: Another major inhibitor of growth of tourism is the difficulty of obtaining visas for India. Government must liberalize visa restrictions to ensure a larger flow of tourists to the country which do not pose any political or security problems. Visas should be issued easily on entry at the airport in respect of visitors from such countries.
Engage local communities to develop their cultural heritage: It is seen in India that the ancient tourist?€™s destinations are in the way to destructions. This is mainly because of non- involvement of the local communities. The economic benefits of tourism must be shared by the local people who are mainly the preserver of it. Therefore a kind of consciousness should be developed among the masses to preserve the flora and fauna, the ancient monuments, scriptures and other archeological beauties.
Need for a strong marketing approach: Increased competition from the neighboring countries and a poor perception of the Indian tourism product need a strong marketing approach. The Incredible India campaign should be strengthened mainly targeting to the competitors of the overseas countries. The promotional expenditure of Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia far exceeds the promotional expenditure of India. India needs a vigorous effort to improve its image as an attractive tourist destination of global standard.
Develop tailor-made packages: Many of out tour packages do not respond to the tourists requirements. This is mainly because of erroneous development of the tour packages. Instead of a mass production and mass consumption approach , the tour operators must have flexible packages to provide life time value to the visitors looking into their profile.
Conclusion: India is no doubt a fascinating destination with an outstanding mix of ancient monuments, delightful jungles, virgin beaches, scenic beauties, colorful folk and classical dances and above all hospitable people. What it requires a more vibrant approach of welcoming tourists and sends them back as friends with enormous happy and living memories. The thorough implementation of the concept ?€? Atithi devo Bhovo?€? in each level of tourism will definitely achieve our target of global tourism market of India.
References:
Anand, M.M., Tourism and Hotel Industry in India, Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi.
Batra, G.S. Management of Tourism Corporation (A Case Study of Punjab), National Seminar on Tourism, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, 1994.
Tourist arrival in India- FHRAI- Newsletter, July-August 2005
Incredible India Figure- 2003
Business Line, New Delhi-09.01.2005
Economic Times, October 28, 2001, p.7
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Tourism – a Fight Against Poverty
TOURISM ?€“ A FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY
Creating Jobs and Wealth
Poverty alleviation has become an essential condition for peace, environmental conservation and sustainable development, besides being an ethical obligation in an affluent world, where the divide between poor and rich nations seems to have increased in recent years. There is a stronger evidence that tourism if developed and managed in a sustainable manner, can make a significant contribution to alleviate poverty, especially in rural areas, where most of the poor live and where there are very few other development options.
Travel & Tourism is the world?€™s largest industry and creator of jobs across national and regional economies. World Travel and Tourism Council research shows that in 2000, Travel & Tourism will generate, directly and indirectly, 11.7% of Gross Domestic Product and nearly 200 million jobs in the world-wide economy. International tourism arrivals in 2002 exceeded 700 million, generating $US 474.2 billion in worldwide receipts. These figures are forecasted to have an upward trend in 2010.
Jobs generated by Travel & Tourism are spread across the economy – in retail, construction, manufacturing and telecommunications, as well as directly in Travel & Tourism companies. These jobs employ a large proportion of women, minorities and young people; are predominantly in small and medium sized companies; and offer good training and transferability. Tourism can also be one of the most effective drivers for the development of regional economies. These patterns apply to both developed and emerging economies.
The Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, Francesco Frangialli, rightly observed that ?€?tourism is a major factor in the war on poverty. For most Developing Countries, LDC?€™s and Small Island Developing States it is their largest single export and major driver of jobs, investment and economic transformation. It is growing in these countries at significantly higher rates than in OECD states. Also in general these poor countries are most vulnerable to climate change and at the same time are the ones who create the least green house gas emissions. Tourism must be allowed to grow responsibly to these states and actions to curb emissions must take this into account?€?.
The geographical expansion and labour intensive nature of the Tourism sector provide ?a spread of employment which is particularly relevant in remote and rural areas where ?many of the poor live.
?UNWTO statistics show the growing strength of the tourism industry for developing ?countries:?
International tourism receipts for developing countries (low income, lower and ?upper middle income countries) will soon pass more than US$ 250 billion.?
Tourism is one of the major export sectors of poor countries and a leading ?source of foreign exchange in 46 of the 49 Least Developed Countries.?
Through its ST-EP programme (Sustainable Tourism ?€“ Eliminating Poverty), UNWTO ?has put in place a framework for poverty alleviation, linking its longstanding pursuit of ?sustainable tourism with the United Nations Millennium Development Goals and its own ?Global Code of Ethics.
Funding has been approved for 13 ST-EP projects so far, amounting to around US$1 ?million, benefiting 18 countries (Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Honduras, Kenya, Lao, ?Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania, Vietnam and Zambia, and a regional ?project in West Africa). In parallel, 25 ST-EP projects are being implemented by ?UNWTO with funding from the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) for a total ?of around ?sbquo;? 1.2 million (Albania, Cambodia, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Montenegro, Nepal, ?Niger, Rwanda, SADC countries, Uganda). Italy, is funding 8 ST-EP projects ??(Colombia, Ghana, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mali), and funding has been approved for ?additional projects during 2007.
International tourist arrivals, 1990-2002
International tourist arrivals
(millions)
Share
(percentage)
in 2002
1990
1995
2000
2001
2002
WORLD
455.9
550.4
687.3
684.1
702.6
100
Africa
15.0
20.0
27.4
28.3
29.1
4.1
Americas
93.0
108.8
128.0
120.2
114.9
16.3
Asia and the Pacific
57.7
85.6
115.3
121.1
131.3
18.7
North-East Asia
28.0
44.1
62.5
65.6
73.6
10.5
South-East Asia
21.5
29.2
37.0
40.2
42.2
6.0
Oceania
5.2
8.1
9.6
9.5
9.6
1.4
South Asia
3.2
4.2
6.1
5.8
5.9
0.8
Europe
280.6
322.3
392.7
390.8
399.8
56.9
Middle East
9.7
13.6
24.0
23.6
27.6
3.9
Source: World Tourism Organization.
Tourism in Asia and the Pacific region
During the period 1990-2002, growth in tourism in Asia and the Pacific outperformed the rest of the world, with arrivals growing by 7.1 per cent annually (compared with 3.7 per cent for the world), increasing the global share from 12.7 per cent in 1990 to 18.7 per cent in 2002. Over the same period, tourism revenue in the region more than doubled, from $US 40.8 billion in 1990 to $US 94.7 billion in 2002. Travel and tourism in the region has created 115 million jobs and made a significant contribution to GDP (North-East Asia, 9 per cent of GDP; South-East Asia, 7.56 per cent; South Asia, 4.87 per cent; Oceania, 13.55 per cent).
Given the broad income and employment figures as well as the impacts outlined above, tourism has considerable potential to contribute to poverty reduction in countries of the region. However, in most countries, tourism initiatives are still only at the pilot stage and the measurement of their impact on the poor is inconsistent. It is also well recognized that there can be leakages of foreign exchange from the tourism sectors and that the distribution of the benefits of tourism varies according t according to the market segment on which the country is focusing. Consequently, two of the challenges in the sector are to design tourism interventions that maximize net foreign exchange gains and focus on the potential of improving the living standards of the poor.
With the increased interest in using tourism as a tool for poverty alleviation, there is clearly a need to develop methodologies and indicators that will enable Governments and other stakeholders to understand the impact of various initiatives on the poor and shape future interventions more effectively. In this connection, preparations are under way to organize a meeting on measuring and assessing the impact of pro-poor tourism initiatives and policies at Bangkok in September 2004. The meeting will bring together a group of practitioners working in poverty and tourism to consider methodologies to measure and assess the impact of pro-poor tourism initiatives.
The rising arrival figures do not necessarily mean that the poorer members of a society will also benefit. Nor are increasing numbers of tourists always welcome at a destination. It is therefore vital that destination managers find ways how the poor can obtain ?€?not crumbs off the table but a share of the cake?€?. In this context, Dr. SantaMaria introduced seven approaches for achieving benefits for the poor from tourism development:
?€? direct employment;
?€? supply of goods and services to enterprises;
?€? direct sales of goods and services to visitors;
?€? running of enterprises (SMEs, community-based);
?€? tax or levy on tourism income;
?€? voluntary giving / support by enterprises or tourists; and
?€? investment in infrastructure.
A study was conducted in order to discover how some of these approaches can be supported. To increase the number of poor people who are directly employed in the tourism industry, for example, three main activities can be suggested: the use of international partnerships and teaching support to ?€?catch up?€? on education and training, the setting up of tourism developments even in isolated rural areas, as well as the support through microfinance initiatives.
The following principles have been adopted by UNWTO and recommended to the governments in connection with Tourism and Poverty Alleviation:
1. Mainstreaming: ensure that sustainable tourism development is included in general poverty elimination programmes. Include poverty elimination measures within overall strategies for the sustainable development of tourism;
2. Partnerships: develop partnerships between international, government, nongovernmental and private sector bodies, with a common aim of poverty alleviation through tourism;
3. Integration: adopt an integrated approach with other sectors and avoid overdependence
on tourism;
4. Equitable distribution: ensure that tourism development strategies focus on more equitable distribution of wealth and services – growth alone is not enough;
5. Acting locally: focus action at a local/destination level, within the context of supportive national policies;
6. Retention: reduce leakages from the local economy and build linkages within it, focusing on the supply chain;
7. Viability: maintain sound financial discipline and assess viability of all actions taken;
8. Empowerment: create conditions which empower and enable the poor to have access to information and to influence and take decisions;
9. Human rights: remove all forms of discrimination against people working or seeking to work in tourism and eliminate any exploitation, particularly against women and children;
10. Commitment: plan action and the application of resources for the long term; and
11. Monitoring: develop simple indicators and systems to measure the impact of tourism on poverty.
Based on these principles, UNWTO?€™s general programme of work includes a number of activities aimed at maximizing the impact of tourism for the benefit of developing countries in general and LDCs in particular.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
There has been an up market trend in the tourism over the last few decades, especially in Europe where international travel for short breaks is common. Tourists have higher levels of disposable income and greater leisure time and they are also better-educated and have more sophisticated tastes. There is now a demand for a better quality products, which has resulted in a fragmenting of the mass market for beach vacations; people want more specialized versions, such as ‘Club 18 -30′, quieter resorts, family-oriented holidays, or niche market-targeted destination hotels. As well, people are taking second short break holidays.
The developments in technology and transport infrastructure such as jumbo jets and low-budget airlines have made many types of tourism more affordable. There have also been changes in lifestyle, such as retiree-age people who living as a tourist all the year round. This is facilitated by internet purchasing of tourism products. Some sites have now started to offer dynamic packaging, in which an inclusive price is quoted for a tailor- made package requested by the customer upon impulse.
There have been a few setbacks in tourism, such as the September 11, 2001 attacks and terrorist threats to tourist destinations such as Bali and European cities. Some of the tourist destinations, including the beach resorts of Cancún have lost popularity due to shifting tastes. In this context, the excessive building and environmental destruction often associated with traditional “sun and beach” tourism may contribute to a destination’s saturation and subsequent decline. Spain’s Costa Brava, a popular 1960s and 1970s beach location is now facing a crisis in its tourist industry. On December 26, 2004 a tsunami, caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake hit Asian countries bordering the Indian Ocean, and also the Maldives. Tens of thousands of lives were lost, and many tourists died. This, together with the vast clean-up operation in place, has stopped or severely hampered tourism to the area.
Sustainable tourism is becoming more popular as people start to realize the devastating effects of poorly planned tourism on communities. Receptive tourism is now growing at a very rapid rate in many developing countries, where it is often the most important economic activity in local Gross Domestic Product.
In recent years, second holidays or vacations have become more popular as people’s discretionary income increases. Typical combinations are a package to the typical mass tourist resort, with a winter skiing holiday or weekend break to a city or national park.
“The development of tourism means, above all, social progress, job ?creation and poverty alleviation”.
` Travel & Tourism has a number of advantages over other industry sectors:
it creates jobs and wealth whilst;
at the same time, it can contribute to sustainable development;
it tends to have low start-up costs;
is a viable option in a wide range of areas and regions;
is likely to continue to grow for the foreseeable future; and
the industry is, in a large part, aware of the need to protect the resource on which it is based – local culture and built and natural environment – and it is committed to these resources?€™ preservation and enhancement.
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