Guest Column

India Tourism is raring to go

There is no stopping India Tourism feels Ashwini Kakkar, vice-chairman, Mercury Travels and chairman, flight Raja. He explains why we have arrived in the field of tourism hospitality and aviation.

India is the partner country at ITB Berlin 2007 and this means big things, for a big country like India. Apart from it being an honour and a great platform to showcase product India to the world, it also means more responsibility to cash in and work in a focussed manner to achieve greater strides in tourism business. The ministry of tourism and culture and the ministry of civil aviation have achieved a lot in a short span of time and today tourism is looked at with greater seriousness. But, I would like to say that this is just the beginning of a golden era in tourism, aviation and hospitality in India.

Taking a wider and larger viewpoint, today India is in the mind and business plan of most businesses worldwide. The projected growth figures of India’s GDP has led to positive developments on both sides of the business equation, i.e. foreign investments in India taking place along with Indian investors buying of international businesses. The economy is witnessing and upswing and this will have its spill over effect on other sectors in the business. A buoyant economy will augment further increase in business travel dramatically. India’s growth in other sectors such as the software industry, which is showing a steady growing of 30-35 per cent, will further lead to more movement in the business travel segment.

Apart from the robust economy, disposable incomes amongst the masses is rising, wherein people are looking beyond the basics towards comfort and luxury and hence the option of travel in the household pie has moved to number nine from number 13 a few years ago. At the same time, Indians travelling abroad on holidays, especially short haul is witnessing an encouraging boom. Globally the `Incredible India’ campaign has made its mark and today inbound tourism is also witnessing a steady rise. As per international tourism statistics and survey, India today is regarded amongst the top five must see tourism destinations of the world. With more and more development in the area of tourism infrastructure, be it in the field of surface transport or civil aviation, will only result in a more stable tourism ground for India. The initial wait of three years, when the country is preparing its infrastructure, especially in the field of aviation with 38 greenfield airports in the pipeline, with new destinations and routes opening up and with modernisation of India’s leading international airports, will ensure that the wait has been fruitful. Public Private Partnership, as an essential tool towards developing tourism infrastructure has kicked-off in various segments. All this will pave the way for more international connectivity and probably newer airlines looking towards India.

The government today is also slowly moving away from providing the basics and the necessities that India was deprived off and is moving more towards other sectors, which as the tax collection percentage has also shown a substantial increase of approximately 40 per cent. Today, the country is also looking at increased investment in the hospitality sector, with large chains and reputed brands looking at India in seriousness. Today, I can confidently say that India has arrived and we have to now make the right moves to cash in on this positive tourism environment. Today, it is true India is every where. The successful `India Everywhere’ campaign of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) left its mark on global business at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos last year. It was organised in partnership with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF). Brand India today is making its mark felt at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism and travel forum by being the partner country. Way to go India!

(As told to Reema Sissodia)