Inward Bound

Tourism is shining, and spreading some of its glitter over India too. Just three months into the new year, the country has attained record a...

Tourism is shining, and spreading some of its glitter over India too. Just three months into the new year, the country has attained record arrivals of foreign travellers.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the period from January to March 2004 witnessed record arrivals of 9.5 lakh tourists. This is 22 per cent more than the figure in the same period last year.

This year began with the arrival of 3.2 lakh foreign tourists to India in January, a growth of 17.6 per cent over a year ago. The months of February and March have witnessed an inflow of 3.4 lakh and 2.8 lakh foreign tourists, 23 per cent and 28 per cent more than the same months in the previous year.

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The rising numbers are in line with the travel industry’s expectation of a good season this year, considering a stable political and economic climate worldwide.

‘‘The development of inbound tourism is largely dependent on the political and economic situation of the country,’’ says Laxmikant Patil, assistant manager, Cox and Kings Ltd. Patil believes that there will be a further spurt in arrivals once the elections are over.

However people like Himmat Anand, chief operating officer of Sita Travels, say there other factors which have piqued interest in India.

‘‘First, the Incredible India campaign which the Ministry of Tourism has launched, has created great awareness in the international market. It’s impact is being felt now,’’ says Anand. ‘‘Secondly, in the last few months there has been a lot of positive publicity about India worldwide. This has increased foreign confidence.’’

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Cox & Kings’ Patil informs that among the leisure travellers, new destinations like Assam and the other north eastern states are becoming popular, apart from the usual Golden Triangle (Delhi, Agra and Jaipur), Kerala and Goa. ‘‘Adventure tourism is becoming popular among inbound tourists, with many of them visiting places like Corbett National Park and Ranthambore sanctuary,’’ he says.

However, all agree that business travel still forms the bulk of inbound tourism. ‘‘In the last five years, there has been a huge rise in foreigners coming for conferences and meetings,’’ informs Anand.

His statement is confirmed by V V Giri, general manager, Park Hotel, Chennai, who says the growth in tourism is mainly due to the growth in the IT and BPO industries, the feel-good factor, the rising rupee, and the overall growth of the economy. ‘‘The growth is more due to the corporates arrivals than due to the rise in leisure tourism. With the open skies and the drop in airfares, it is only expected to move northwards,’’ Giri says.

The hotel closed the year 2003-04 with an occupancy level of 66 per cent, compared to the 50 per cent occupancy level in 2002-03. Of the total occupants in 2003-04, almost 20 per cent were single women travellers. He also expects an occupancy level of 75 per cent in 2004-05, most of which would be from corporate clients.

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The story is echoed in most hotels in business hubs like Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Delhi.

— with inputs from Shefali Anand