WTTC India Initiative

‘Senior citizens are the future of world tourism’

Ashwini Kakkar WTTC India Initiative Chairman

In an exclusive with Bhisham Mansukhani, WTTC India Initiative chairman Ashwini Kakkar speaks about the recent WTTC annual summit in Washington and the issues he broached at the international forum

What were the key issues discussed at the WTTC summit in Washington?

The issue most central to the summit was visa processing. Officials at the highest level including secretary of state, Condolezza Rice, spoke about how to make the visa processing simpler. However, they were all candidly questioned about the status on efforts to reduce the long waiting periods and move over the complex process of obtaining a US visa. Indians are unfortunately, by far, one of the worst hit by the protracted process, and sometimes, futile attempts to obtain visas to travel to the US.

What were the India-specific issues that you touched on, during your address to the delegates at the summit?

I provided a perspective on the Indian travel market, particularly the booming domestic aviation as well as some of the challenges like sales tax on ATF and inadequate airport infrastructure. I stressed the urgent need for infrastructure status for the industry and the removal of service tax on foreign exchange earnings, an overhaul of the strained landing, parking and navigation facilities and the potential benefits of allowing visas on arrival. The shortage of professionals in the industry and hotel rooms to accommodate and fuel international and domestic business in India, were also the focus of my address.

Could you cite some of the interesting international trends touched on in the summit?

The most interesting trend discussed, to my mind, was in the session on Demography Study, which revealed that populations across all countries were on the decline and that the age levels of tourists were rising and that this profile will dictate the future of tourism. They have lots of disposable time and income. The study revealed that destinations that were most empathetic to their needs could emerge as leaders on this new plane. There was also a session on the management of risk and uncertainty. WTTC has also partnered with the World Economic Forum to create the Global Tourism Competitiveness Index. Accenture also released some country analysis, sessions on tourism and the environment. WTTC has tied up with Oxford Economic Forecasting Unit to undertake a huge amount of research on tourist behaviour and preferences.