INDIA, which currently attracts more than six million tourists a year, is looking to double this number by 2016, Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahai said during a recent visit to Dubai, UAE.
Sahai was heading a tourism road show which provided a glimpse into India's cultural, spiritual and travel attractions. The Incredible India Tourism Road Show depicts India as a multi-faceted, year-round destination for culture, luxury, wildlife and wellness or medical tourism.
The high level delegation included senior officials of the Ministry of Tourism and the state tourism authorities of Rajasthan, Assam, Delhi, Maharashtra and Uttarakhand, along with more than 15 leading Indian tour operators, hotels and airlines.
Speaking exclusively to TTN, Sahai said: “There is a lot of potential for the growth for inbound tourism from the Middle East to India. We currently attract 120,000 arrivals from the region with the UAE contributing up to 50,000 of these. However, I believe the potential from the region is closer to two or even three million.”
India's outbound tourism numbers are currently four times higher than its inbound arrivals and Sahai is keen to redress this imbalance.
“We need to market ourselves more,” he said. “Our regional office in Dubai has been extremely proactive and we plan to open a new office in Amman, Jordan, thus allowing us to reach out to markets like Syria and Iraq. Connectivity from these markets into India is strong and we are focused on this area for more inbound tourists.”
Sahai also revealed that India plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UAE to jointly promote tourism and a tourism promotion forum will be set up at the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi which will have representation from the tourism industry. India currently is the third largest source of foreign tourists to the UAE.
There has been a consistent growth of foreign tourist arrivals from the Gulf and the Middle East to India over the last two to three years with 2010 registering an overall growth of around 17 per cent over the previous year. Some of these countries – particularly UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and Turkey – are emerging as key tourism markets for India.
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Foreign tourist arrivals into India have witnessed a steady increase over the years, touching 6.29 million in 2011, a whopping 8.9 per cent increase over 5.78 million tourist arrivals in 2010.
Foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) until May this year have reached 2.8 million while foreign exchange earnings (FEE) over the same period stands at $7.29 billion, and the ministry aims to increase India’s share of international tourist arrivals from 0.6 per cent to one per cent by 2016.
As part of its marketing strategy, India will continue to position itself as a hub for medical tourism, Sahai said, pointing to the country's world-class hospitals, highly skilled physicians and surgeons, low cost of treatment, excellent quality of care, nursing and hospitality, comparatively lower waiting times and traditional therapies like ayurveda and yoga as its main selling points.
“Wellness and medical tourism continue to be a driving factor for India. We also want to promote our monsoon months, a rarity for guest coming from the region. Another market is adventure tourism. With activities ranging from mountaineering, rafting, skiing and natural beauty including wild life, India has much to offer,” he said.
“With 7,000 km of coastline, we are well placed to cater to beach tourists, while our wealth of temples can attract those looking for peaceful or spiritual experiences, or even meditating in the Himalayas.”
Sahai added that more and more states across India are warming to the potential that economic tourism offers.
“India is a late starter in tourism but we are now in a position to match any destination in the world. However, we still need at least 200,000 rooms as well as more exhibition centres, convention centres and theme parks. We need to invest around Rs40,000 crores ($72 billion) to develop the industry. All this will facilitate achieving our five-year target of doubling arrival numbers by 2016,” he concluded.