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Which is the best way to improve tourism in India?

(a) Improve Marketing, or (b) Improve Infrastructure, or (c) Improve safety & security of Tourists

Tourism flourishing in India is economically significant. India generated ?16.5 trillion of its GDP through the tourism sector in 2023. And tourist spending in 2023 was 14.6 trillion. The tourism sector employs 39 million people.

1.  Improve Marketing: -

• Marketing is the key to creating and selling a brand. A powerful marketing campaign creates product and service awareness and creates a powerful visual impact that attracts potential customers. Slogans like “Incredible India” and “Atithi Devo Bhava” have lived their lives. They need to be reinvented to stimulate development in our country. There have been several government initiatives to improve our country's socio-cultural heritage, and new advertisements or campaigns must raise awareness of them.

• Tourism products are unquantifiable and heterogeneous. So, selling one’s offerings becomes more challenging because the proposition is mostly feeling- and experience-based. India’s diversity, on the one hand, poses a marketing challenge. However, on the flip side, it adds to the country’s brand value. Variety in India can be sold as a single unit, or different states can brand themselves uniquely, like Kerala branding itself as “God's own Country” and Rajasthan as “Padharo Mharo Desh.”

• India's international marketing should include roadshows, fairs, and exhibitions in collaboration with school and college visits for student competitions, seminars, and workshops. Currently, there are only 14 international offices for the same, and their campaign frequency could be much higher.

• We must develop tourist packages that showcase our festivals, which are unique to each country. We recognise Christmas in the West, the Tomatina festival in Spain, and the Rio Carnival in Brazil. Likewise, we should promote Indian festivals like Holi and plan special offers to attract more tourists during this period.

• Travelling is an experience rather than just visiting attractions. Travelling in diverse & beautiful India is a pleasurable experience. Hence, marketing needs to highlight this aspect. Ideas such as India on a shoestring, India in luxury, royal India, urban India, the common person’s India, historical India, and many more would help people explore attractions in a context rather than in isolation.

• Marketing should also cater to Indian tourists. Marketing sites for education, adventure, religious, and recreational tours will further boost the industry. A good example is Vaishnav Devi Darshan, where bookings for hotels, helicopters, etc., can be made online.

• Hosting international competitions like CWG and cricket world cups, as well as diplomatic events like SAARC and BRICS, also brings the country into the limelight. There is a need to accept more such opportunities and fulfil them to the fullest.

2. Improve Infrastructure: -

• India is the 22^nd most-visited country in the world. However, India ranked 54^th in the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021. The ranking and scoring were based on the tourism industry's enabling environment, policies, infrastructure, demand drivers, and sustainability. India scores high on natural and cultural resources (ranked 8^th), but accessibility needs improvement.

• There is an urgent need for budget and mid-market hotels as travellers seek safe, affordable accommodation. Various domestic and international brands have made significant inroads into this space. However, the potential for this segment of hotels is ever-increasing.

• There is a need to develop or upgrade passenger terminals, such as roads, railways, and water transport, to improve the tourist experience. There is a requirement to enhance last-mile connectivity through a state-sponsored transportation system. The informed tourist also desires eco-friendly transport.

• Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan supports spick and span areas around the tourist destinations and sites. Cleanliness will boost the image of the tourist destination. Slums, open drains, garbage dumps, contaminated and smelly ponds, etc., degrade our country's aesthetic value. Swatch Bharat Abhiyan needs to be sustained to improve India’s image.

• Most of our attractions are left to themselves and do not build into experiences and memories to take back home. A brief on tourist destinations should be put on websites in different languages to popularise smaller, less frequently visited places. It will save time and raise awareness of popular sites that often require licensed tourist guides.

• ATMs, money exchange counters, and government-authorised tourism information & interpretation centres need to grow in number to facilitate an uninterrupted experience.

• The Archaeological Survey of India has noted an urgent need to restore and renovate our major tourist destinations, such as forts and Harappan cities.

• The population of many wildlife species is also dwindling. Hence, the forest department must ensure the security and protection of national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and biosphere reserves to boost wildlife tourism in India.

• Activities for the children, culinary tours, circuit tours, interactivity for the tourists with the culture of the place, light and sound shows, amphitheatre at historical monuments and museums, government-authenticated travel guides at centrally determined prices, special tourist trains, etc., help the tourists in getting value for money and will increase tourist satisfaction.

3.  Improve the safety & security of Tourists: -

• Frequently, increases in crime in tourist destinations are linked to deeper socio-economic problems. Crimes create an image of insecurity that directly affects the destinations tourists choose. Positively assuring visitors of unmitigated safety will contribute to increased tourism in India.

• Tourists must be educated about their rights in India before their visit, as well as about grievance redressal mechanisms. In addition, dispute resolution needs to be quick and transparent, as any legal procedure is more discomforting for a tourist in a foreign land.

• Indian women should be able to travel in groups for adventure/ religious tourism. The assurance of women's safety will lure many girl student groups and working women within India & abroad to head towards places of their choice in India.

• Tourists travel with some cash. Hence, beggars frequently harangued them at temples for charity or at shops for unreasonably high prices. Beggars and frequent offenders like thieves and kidnappers need to be ostracised from such places. Places or organisations involved in deceiving tourists should be banned. The government-authorised rates at railway stations, bus stops, stores, etc., should be available in brochures and handouts for tourists' convenience.

• Concerted efforts by the police, hotel groups, and travel agencies can ensure tourists' safety. While hotels can look after their comfortable stay, authorised government travel agencies will ensure their safety. The police need to be vigilant of the practices of these hotels & agencies.

• Tourists are most often tricked into drug abuse, stealing or sexual abuse. The racketeers and mafia need to be apprehended, and the police need to be more approachable to the tourists. Unique helplines, mobile apps, and dedicated police troops are needed for the hour. Additionally, infrastructure needs to be improved by erecting streetlights, multilingual signboards, Wi-Fi and hotspots, etc.

• After the Uttarakhand floods, the need for safety from natural calamities gained greater currency than ever before. Early warnings from weather departments must be heeded, and mock drills and escape protocols must be discussed to ensure the preparedness of disaster management authorities. Such precautions are also necessary for places that organise adventure sports. It will avoid the loss of precious lives at tourist spots.

• There is a need to develop a code of etiquette towards foreigners so that “Atithi Devo Bhava” does not remain a mere slogan. Helping foreigners in need, hospitality, keeping our vicinity clean, maintaining public property, honesty, etc., are qualities every Indian should display for tourism growth. It will indeed have far-reaching benefits.