The ‘Feel Good’ Factor

While there is tremendous debate on the government’s ‘India Shining’ campaign and the much-publicised ‘feel-good’ factor in the Indian economy, one thing in certain, there is certainly a ‘feel-good’ factor in Indian tourism and this sentiment has been reflected clearly at the recently-concluded World Travel India (WTI) 2004. The mood in general was very positive, upbeat, with a never-before, all-pervasive buoyancy that seems to be almost infectious.

Nevermind the fear of infection from ‘bird flu’, this industry today has happily been infected with ‘bull flu’ in a manner of speaking! Everyone is bullish on tourism, including the WTO Asia-Pacific representative, Dr Harsh Varma, who paid glowing tributes to the recent developments in Indian tourism, while addressing a high-profile CEO’s Conclave on the second afternoon of the WTI 2004 travel expo. While the power luncheon was attended by CEOs from across all verticals, including hotels, airlines, tourism boards and tour operating companies, the views expressed and future forecast for this industry was very clear... the ‘feel good’ factor in this industry is here to stay and Indian tourism is truly ‘shining’.

Sheldon Santwan