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Tourism could have been a panacea for India’s economic woes: a source of both revenue and employment. But, according to the World Bank’s figures from 2011, Malaysia attracts nearly 25 million tourists, Mexico 23 million, Ukraine 21 million, Thailand 19 million, Singapore 10 million, Egypt 9.5 million. In sharp contrast, India attracts under 6.5 million visitors. Fewer than Indonesia. Fewer than Bulgaria. Only half as many as Poland. Vietnam, about the size of Madhya Pradesh, attracts just as many foreign tourists as India. A comparison with China, apparently India’s rival and de facto benchmark, is embarrassing. At 57 million foreign tourists a year, China is behind only the United States and France as the world’s most visited country. To add salt to India’s wounds, consider this: Venice alone has 6.5 million annual visitors, as many as all of India. According to the Mastercard Global Cities Index for 2013, Bangkok has overtaken London as the most visited city on the planet, among cities where visitors spend at least one night. Bangkok gets nearly 16 million visitors. It is the first of seven Asian cities — including Singapore, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai — that receive more visitors every year than India.
The truth about Indian tourism is that behind the confident smiles, the claims for rapid growth and unlimited potential, is the reality of too few hotel rooms, inadequate infrastructure, political indifference, mounting garbage, tawdry scams and violent crime, making the claims of ‘Incredible India’ seem as hollow as those of ‘India Shining’, another famously hubristic slogan. According to a Planning Commission draft report for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), the benefits of paying attention to tourism are significant. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange for over a third of developing countries, and accounts for 30 percent of the world’s exports of commercial services. As an export category, it ranks fourth after fuels, chemical and automotive products. It is an industry that creates employment for groups that otherwise struggle to get jobs. In India, women account for 70 percent of the work force in the tourist sector; and nearly half of all tourism workers are under 25 years of age. According to the report, every million rupees invested in tourism creates 78 jobs compared to the 45 created by the manufacturing sector. In 2010, tourism accounted for 53 million jobs in the country. Full story...
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Tourism could have been a panacea for India’s economic woes: a source of both revenue and employment. But, according to the World Bank’s figures from 2011, Malaysia attracts nearly 25 million tourists, Mexico 23 million, Ukraine 21 million, Thailand 19 million, Singapore 10 million, Egypt 9.5 million. In sharp contrast, India attracts under 6.5 million visitors. Fewer than Indonesia. Fewer than Bulgaria. Only half as many as Poland. Vietnam, about the size of Madhya Pradesh, attracts just as many foreign tourists as India. A comparison with China, apparently India’s rival and de facto benchmark, is embarrassing. At 57 million foreign tourists a year, China is behind only the United States and France as the world’s most visited country. To add salt to India’s wounds, consider this: Venice alone has 6.5 million annual visitors, as many as all of India. According to the Mastercard Global Cities Index for 2013, Bangkok has overtaken London as the most visited city on the planet, among cities where visitors spend at least one night. Bangkok gets nearly 16 million visitors. It is the first of seven Asian cities — including Singapore, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai — that receive more visitors every year than India.
The truth about Indian tourism is that behind the confident smiles, the claims for rapid growth and unlimited potential, is the reality of too few hotel rooms, inadequate infrastructure, political indifference, mounting garbage, tawdry scams and violent crime, making the claims of ‘Incredible India’ seem as hollow as those of ‘India Shining’, another famously hubristic slogan. According to a Planning Commission draft report for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), the benefits of paying attention to tourism are significant. Tourism is the main source of foreign exchange for over a third of developing countries, and accounts for 30 percent of the world’s exports of commercial services. As an export category, it ranks fourth after fuels, chemical and automotive products. It is an industry that creates employment for groups that otherwise struggle to get jobs. In India, women account for 70 percent of the work force in the tourist sector; and nearly half of all tourism workers are under 25 years of age. According to the report, every million rupees invested in tourism creates 78 jobs compared to the 45 created by the manufacturing sector. In 2010, tourism accounted for 53 million jobs in the country. Full story...
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