In a recent statement the Minister of Tourism had announced the goal of 15 million foreign tourist arrivals by 2024. Domestic travel had so well fuelled tourism revival in India post Covid, that inbound tourism had for some time receded to the background. In any case time was not yet opportune to concentrate on inbound tourism as the world was not yet fully ready. The UNWTO Confidence Index survey indicated that 81 percent of tourism professionals see better prospects for international travels in 2022 but 48 percent of experts see a potential return of international arrivals to 2019 levels only in 2023. It is now time to prepare for that revival and prepare a long-term inbound tourism promotion policy that is in tune with the new realities, opportunities and challenges.
There are optimistic signs too to support the Ministry’s expectations of growth. There are reports that domestic air travel is back to pre-Covid level. The international arrivals jumped by 177 percent in March 2022 as compared to March 2021. Data from the ministry of tourism shows that 3,263,219 foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) have been registered this year through the month of August, which is 47.2 percent of the 6,914,987 foreign visitors’ arrival during the same period in 2019. However, 2021 had seen a decline of 45 percent over 2020 and 2020 had seen a massive 75 percent decline. So, the present growth only shows that the situation is slowly getting back to normal, but not fully as yet. It is also not clear how much of the arrival is NRIs coming home. Generally, NRIs make for about 35 to 40 percent of total international arrivals to India and in 2021 out of 7 m arrivals 5.5m were NRIs.
Nevertheless, it is now time for reshaping inbound tourism. It is necessary to rebrand India, not only remodelling and relaunching Incredible India but also projecting a safe and secure India that inspires confidence in the travellers. Technology has empowered the consumers to have greater choice options and in that consumer choice, ease and cost of travel will be primary factors. Government initiative to attract foreign tourists by providing one-month free tourist visa to 5,00,000 tourists until end of March 2022 was a good gesture but it is likely that the circumstances at that time and the level of confidence for travel might have outweighed the advantages of the initiative. As travel picks up, it may be worthwhile to revisit the scheme as a measure of incentive. Similarly, government have extended e-visa facility to 156 countries till date. A close look at the tourists’ feedback on this scheme and also the visa on arrival scheme will go a long way in influencing consumer choice in favour of India.
Air seat capacity and cost are other important factors that influence decisions to travel to a particular destination. By 2037, 520 million people are expected to travel to, from, or within India, according to statistics from Invest India.
There are reports from reliable agencies that air seat capacity and the targets of international arrivals do not match. Apparently, this is an area that should merit close attention of the government and a realistic and holistic picture of tourism targets and aviation capabilities should be in the interest of Indian tourism. Internally there is good news as the government plans to build 100 airports by 2024, under the UDAN Scheme in order to accommodate India’s expanding passenger demand.
A recent Google survey has shown, as indeed have several similar surveys, that as the locked-up aspirations for travel create a surge, among other things cultural engagements and sensitivity to sustainable concerns will weigh with the travellers. India’s enormous cultural wealth, its variety gives the country an edge over many others.
India’s presidentship of the G20 is a great boon for tourism at a time when international tourism is picking up. It will give a year-round focus on India and that focus can be the foundation for a long-term tourism growth. As the events take place in different parts of the country, the participants—all important policy makers and opinion leaders—will have an opportunity to savour the excellence and variety of Indian tourism products and services. G20 should be used as an opportunity to build infrastructure like accommodation and transport in those destinations across the country where various events take place and make these destinations future ready. In that context the long-standing demand of HAI to grant infrastructure status to hospitality sector becomes very relevant and should receive priority attention of the government. In essence the G20 showcasing of tourism could recall the motto Nehru had used in the early years of Indian tourism— “welcome a tourist and send back a friend”.
The world celebrated the Tourism Day last year on the theme of “rethinking tourism” — putting people and planet first. Last year, for the first time in its history, the United Nations discussed tourism with the objective of “Putting sustainable and resilient tourism at the heart of an inclusive recovery” and appealed to the nations to renew political commitment to support tourism as an engine of inclusive growth. PM Modi has often described tourism which provides the highest employment, as a pillar of development and Mahatma Gandhi had described tourism as “the language of peace’ –which is one of the objectives that G20 under India’s presidentship intends to pursue.
It is only logical that resurgence of Indian tourism and hospitality—the vision @47—should be founded on an acceptance of this role of tourism and hospitality and putting it in its due place in nation building. The rest will follow.
