OPINION | India’s incredible, but not appealing enough for globe-trotters

With our population and rising aspiration levels, we fare much better in outbound tourism where we stand 10th, though our expenditure is barely 1/7th that of the leader, China

World Tourism Day is here, that time of the year when tourism statistics are shared. Government representatives will undoubtedly speak of an increase in tourism numbers and the post-pandemic recovery. The bigger story, though, will be neglected – that of India continuing to miss opportunities to realize the immense revenue potential of tourism.

Before we go further, let’s take a look at relevant data of global leaders in tourism.

Doing better in outbound tourism

India is obviously not in the top 10. We stand well below, with under 10 million international tourist arrivals in 2024, despite the presence of as many as 44 UNESCO World Heritage sites. Predictably, with our population and rising aspiration levels, we fare much better in outbound tourism where we stand 10th, though our expenditure is barely 1/7th that of the leader, China. But never mind outbound, our focus here is on inbound.

As per the World Travel and Tourism Council data for 2024, tourism contributed 357 million jobs worldwide, adding nearly 10% to global GDP. However, despite being home to a kaleidoscope of experiences from heritage to mountains, beaches to islands, and wildlife sanctuaries to adventure, India continues to punch well below its weight in the tourism sector.

Eleven ideas to make India more tourist friendly

More than two decades after the Incredible India tourism campaign made an impact, it’s time for a reboot. A few ideas on how we can tackle this challenge and grow the sector follow:

1. Controlled Tourist Zones: Create tourist zones around World Heritage sites and other key places, ensuring seamless transport, high degree of safety and cleanliness, clear signages in multiple languages. The zones can only work if they are managed by a single authority and not multiple entities.

2. Rein in chaos: Extend those tourist zones to public transportation hubs and ensure aggressive chasing of foreign tourists by transport operators and guides is curbed at these access points. One of the worst cases is Fatehpur Sikri, where guides (self-proclaimed and licensed) surround tourists and insist on being hired, pestering until a positive reply comes.

3. Clean up the act: While sounding like a motherhood statement, spaces within and in the vicinity of tourist zones need to be incredibly clean. Public spitting and waste disposal need to be tackled on a war footing with exemplary fines.

4. Foster a culture for tourism: Giving locals a stake in tourism, especially around heritage sites, will give them economic ownership of the tourist zone. Encourage the creation of cafes, homestays and local craft markets. Many heritage sites have large amounts of land available in the precincts – these can be used for crafts bazaars on a strictly monitored basis. Imagine the bazaar outside the Virupaksha Temple in Hampi being revived for this purpose. Or moving the Dastkar Haat in Delhi into a space within the large Mehrauli Archaeological Park.

5. Cross-promote sites: Little of this happens currently. But imagine an app which informs a visitor of multiple sites in a region and town. Can such an app have inbuilt audio guides to monuments, as well as checklists of credible guides and hotels? Allow more options in being able to buy flexible tickets, accessing sites across cities and multiple sites within a city.

6. Delivering cost competitiveness: Hotel prices across India remain a major concern, with even domestic tourists finding better deals in Thailand than in Goa and other tourist destinations. Beyond the current GST changes, would further liberalization of taxes for hotels in tourist hubs work? Or should state governments tweak building by-laws to encourage more hotel growth?

7. Curb fleecing: Many tourist-centric shops and services at local level operate on the premise that the tourist is ignorant and offer stuff at exorbitant rates. In an age where people do considerable research to plan their journeys, a visitor cannot feel exploited.

8. Build a ‘superstar’ site narrative: ‘Star’ destinations draw visitors. This then rubs off on smaller places in the vicinity. The Taj Mahal, Khajuraho’s temples etc are stars. We need to market 20 more such places – adding a degree of allure and mystery to them. India has dozens of stories to be told about great destinations with varied offerings – the stories are genuine, they just need to be told in full glory. The most recent addition to the list is the Statue of Unity in Gujarat.

9. Leverage international social influencers: Perhaps the best way to tell stories of India is to leverage social media influencers and content creators with global followings – people who tell India’s stories in the language and tone that appeals to potential visitors in USA, Europe, Japan and other key source markets.

10. Create lovely public spaces: The Sundar Nursery in South Delhi was seen as an offshoot of Humayun’s Tomb complex. An elaborate restoration of the monuments within, along with incredible landscaping and a series of cultural activities have transformed a former plant nursery into a buzzing cultural hub attracting an upscale audience.

11. International experiences: Curate world class initiatives at an Indian venue, emphasizing the country’s coming of age with contemporary content and experiences. The best example of this, from recent times, was the Coldplay concert in Ahmedabad, which set a record for the group in terms of audience size. Leverage such events in communication abroad.

The cumulative impact of such steps is akin to driving a cultural revolution in the tourism space in India. The question is if we have the desire to go all the way.