Tourism Prospects: Will 2001 Be Different From 2000?
By Sanjay Kumar /New Delhi

What is on the cards for ‘the tourism industry this year?’ Will it be yet another year of unexpected factors playing havoc with the course of events or will there be some sort of stability? What will happen to tourist arrivals? When will the new tourism policy be announced? Will the eternal problems concerning roads, entry points, air seats, additional rooms in the mid-market segment, finance, investment, accessibility, connectivity and other such things get resolved? To know all these and to understand why India has remained a laggard in foreign tourist arrivals and what could possibly be done to resurrect both, inbound and outbound tourism, to the country’s advantage this year. ET&T probed some luminaries of the tourism industry, who have a pulse on the market. Excerpts:

2001 will be full of opportunities: Arjun Sharma, SITA World Travels
While the tourism industry has an opportunity coming its way in terms of increased air capacity being planned in 2001, some other issues are dragging this opportunity down.

In fact, the proposed enhancement in air capacity on the Indian skies, will greatly help us ease blockages that have emerged in bringing foreign tourists to India, both in terms of accessibility and cost of the accessibility. For, even though accessibility was possible in the last couple of years, it was at least 35-45 per cent more than the cost incurred in going to any of our neighbouring countries. So, I think, 2001 will make us see some degree of rationalisation on this count, but there is still lot of opportunity in further opening up the Indian skies.

The second equally big opportunity coming our way is related to the currently undergoing disinvestment process in Air-India and Indian Airlines. In the coming weeks, we would know who will be driving these two airlines in the future. Once this is finalised, it will strengthen both Air-India and Indian Airlines. This will lead to more competition that will ultimately benefit the customer.

The third big opportunity that 2001 offers, is related to the disinvestment of ITDC hotels. It is extremely unfortunate that a chain as large as ITDC, having about 27 hotels, is not doing well. But, this year, one hopes that the process of disinvestment of ITDC’s Delhi hotels will finally be concluded. This will bring the much needed hotel room supply into the Delhi market. I see these three opportunities coming our way this year. It is time that we, as a nation, realise what our priorities are and if we want to improve India’s image as a tourist destination, we will have to take more severe action.

There is little to cheer about: Kumar Baveja
In 2000, we had a lot of airlines coming into India like Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines, which is poised to return and a lot of European carriers increasing their frequencies. With a promise of brighter skies on the one hand and equal chances of rough weather on the other. Despite earmarking a host of secondary airports for upgradation to international standards, the lack of a clear aviation policy have left us with little to cheer about in terms of infrastructure.

However, I feel that we have taken two steps backwards for every three steps forward. The hospitality sector has not been idle either. Various new chains have gone ahead and finalised partnerships with Indian groups for a variety of hotel chains to meet all kind of budgets. Though, there continues to be a huge gap between the Dollar and Rupee rates, it is a welcome sign to have this marked increase in hotel capacity in India.

While credit must be given to the government for opening up the market to foreign airlines and hotel chains, it surely defies logic when, despite their much-vaunted commitment to tourism promotion, they have hiked the entry fees at heritage sites and monuments of tourist interest. When viewed subjectively, it reflects a regressive trend in a progressive policy.

Bits and pieces of improvement will get us nowhere. While visitor arrivals may fluctuate, there is still room for despair. And the future of Indian tourism, even in 2001, will remain unsure, unless we work on a new set of
priorities.

The future appears bright: Pawan Khanna, Rainbow Travels
For 2001, I feel that operations will become much easier; infrastructure will improve; transportation will be much better, quality and range of accommodations will increase and rates will become more realistic. On the minus side, quality of our human resources, viz guides, drivers etc will deteriorate, driven by greed.

Though the official apathy to tourism will continue, a ray of hope will be visible over the next three to four years. Domestic tourism will grow by leaps and bounds and will become the backbone of tourism in India and provide a springboard for international tourism.

International tourism will continue to stagnate. It will probably reach a new low by the end of 2001 and then bounce back. Hotels in metros will suffer. Leisure hotels will overflow with domestic holiday makers, and boutique hotels will prosper. Small Indian tour operators will wind up or merge with each other. Some will start catering to the domestic market, while others will take up the outbound, that will keep growing phenomenally.

Despite, the happenings of the past couple of months, business over the net will grow, with consumers coming directly to the Indian operator, because of the type of tours India has to offer. Overall, the next few years will be a great challenge that will call for innovation, hard work and resilience. Those who survive, will by 2003, start enjoying the fruits of their hard work.