‘(We Get) Not More Than 450,000 Tourists (Per Year)... China Gets 25 Million... It Is A Shame’

P R S Oberoi, chairman of the Oberoi group of hotels, spoke to Shekhar Gupta, Editor-in-Chief of The Indian Express, on how maintaining the tradition of quality is a 24-hour job. And how our tourism industry still has a long way to go. Excerpts from the interview telecast on NDTV 24X7’s ‘Walk the Talk’

People always say that Indian tradition, Indian psychology, Indian habits, Indian indiscipline... it is very difficult to achieve this quality and maintain it. What is your mantra?

The first is to build the right product. That needs a lot of thinking, then you get all your consultants together and you brainstorm and see you get the best product. The next is the staff. If the staff is no good, there is no good hotel. We (The Oberoi Group) select our staff very carefully, from all over India, we train them and we keep them motivated. Unless you keep them motivated, you can’t succeed. And I think we have achieved it. The secret is to keep it going.

We can’t just presume that since we have got a brand, all our job is done. We have to still do a lot.

Well, the mere fact that we get only two-and-a-half million tourists a year as opposed to China’s 25 million, rest of the South East Asia... I think the figure for Thailand is about eight or nine million, Malaysia is same...so we have a long to go...

One area where we haven’t improved that much is tourism. This is quite shameful...

I think the travel and tourism industry hasn’t educated the government, the public, the media that it is an important industry... it gives employment to a large number of people.

So when our politicians say 2.7 million tourists, do they really know it is not 2.7 million tourists?

In my estimate, the real number of travellers coming to India is 2.7 million. It includes everyone.

How many real tourists are there?

In my estimate not more than 450,000.

You are the doyen of the hospitality industry in the country. Indians face the slug of being underperformers in many areas. It’s true in some areas, untrue in some. But in tourism it is correct. A country like India getting only 5 or 6 lakh of genuine tourists, shame...

It is a shame. We haven’t publicised India... we haven’t done anything to promote India... the recent campaign on...

The Incredible India campaign...

That’s well received... And as you must have read, we are the best, the tenth most favoured destination in the world. That’s a great achievement...

But it’s not yet reflecting in number...

It will reflect in number in future, if we do it the right way. We have a long way to go, we can’t be complacent...

I believe the industry and the government are combining in this campaign.

Yes, we are contributing; the government has said they will contribute equally...

That means if you will put up a crore, they will put up a crore?

Yes... And I think if we can promote India better, clean up cities, get better airports, do something about visas, provide better access to India and out of India...and more airports within India. Our private airlines are now in a position to grow, I don’t see why Air India and Indian Airlines can’t get more aeroplanes... This has been hanging fire for several years.

Civil aviation again, why can’t we provide more seats one way or the other?

Well, this is something that I have never understood. For a country as big as India, we need air transportation, probably the easiest...both for business and for pleasure... within India too, in the winter months if you want to go to Jaipur, you have to book a few weeks ahead.

And each time this comes up, there’s the talk of saving the two national carriers which is something which I have ever understood. These are not Qutab Minar and Taj Mahal that you have to save. These are companies and they have to compete.

They should compete... and the best way to save the airlines is by allowing competition and not by restricting other airlines. And I have said this often, and this angers both Indian Airlines and Air-India, you only improve if you have competition.

Do you see a little change in India now...

There is indeed a big change in the government’s attitude. As I said earlier, it is all a question of educating them.