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Gulf Times Thursday, January 16, 2014

COMMENT
Chairman: Abdullah bin Khalifa al-Attiyah Editor-in-Chief : Darwish S Ahmed Production Editor: C P Ravindran

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GULF TIMES
Why not try a World Test Challenge instead of four-team WTC
The proposed World Test Championship (WTC), which, sadly, may not see the light of the day, was a well-meaning attempt to provide a global showpiece for the ve-day game. Crickets world governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), wanted to stage the rst edition of the event in England in 2017, with the worlds top four Test sides vying for the inaugural trophy. The ICC felt a tournament such as the WTC would help give a boost to the ve-day game, which is struggling to attract crowds outside of showpieces such as the Ashes contests between England and Australia. But as it appears, the global body now seems to be gradually realising that the WTC may not work, nancially at least. So, what next? There have been various alternative suggestions like an even more ambitious eight-team format, to the introduction of two divisions with promotion and relegation. It doesnt make sense to scrap the idea altogether. Instead, the ICC should think of something like, say, a World Test Challenge where there would be a set cut-off date every year and the team in second place in The ICC felt a the rankings at that tournament point would earn the such as the WTC right to challenge the leaders for the would help give title of World Test Champions . a boost to the As an annual five-day game xture, it would have a chance to develop greater momentum than a four-team play-off every four years. It would run the risk of being stymied by bad weather, or a dead pitch, but perhaps a reserve day could be set aside? Even the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), owners of Londons Lords cricket ground and the global guardian of the sports laws or rules, feel this could be one of the options. The world cricket committee of MCC which has former England captain Mike Brearley as chairman and include Indias Rahul Dravid, Australias Steve Waugh, South Africas Shaun Pollock and ICC chief executive David Richardson as its members thinks even a cut-down championship featuring just the two top-ranked Test teams would be better than abandoning the concept completely. The MCC World Cricket Committee is a strong supporter of the proposed World Test Championship, and urges the ICC to ensure that such a tournament or at least a nal takes place in 2017 and beyond, the MCC said in a statement following its two-day meeting in Abu Dhabi yesterday. Whatever, it should of no doubt that there remains a major appetite for the skills and character that only Test cricket teases out, wherever the game is played. Surely it should not be beyond the wit of the games great and good, and even the ICC board, to come up with a format that would allow the best Test team in the world to be recognised on a tting stage. To Advertise advr@gulf-times.com Display Telephone 44466621 Fax 44418811 Classified Telephone 44466609 Fax 44418811 Subscription circulation@gulf-times.com
The Taj Mahal in Agra: Despite the Indian government spending millions on highly visible campaigns to lure international visitors, the numbers are not where they should be and certainly not for the worlds second most populous nation, its vast size nor its rich and diverse culture.

India struggling to capture its vast tourism potential

Indias magical 1% of global tourist traffic is still the goal, but it is a long way from being achieved
By Updesh Kapur Doha lockbuster movies churned out week after week by Bollywood, Indias vibrant lm industry, have taken the world by storm. The action-packed icks, the knife-edge drama, the three-hour spectacles grip the masses across India, the Indian diaspora globally and increasingly attract audiences of different cultures and backgrounds. The music, the songs, the colour, the action, the dancing, the modellike actors and actresses who grace the silver screen provide a magical touch that ll theatres across the world. Shot in India and on location overseas, Bollywoods output of over 1,000 lms a year has helped put the nation in the minds of those seeking a dream holiday to India. Bollywood celebrities have inadvertently become ambassadors for a country that has, however, yet to see its tourism potential fullled. Around 7mn visitors headed out to India last year, a proportionately and relatively small number representing a tiny fraction around 0.7% of the 1bnplus people who live in India. Despite the Indian government spending millions on highly visible campaigns to lure international visitors, the numbers are not where they should be and certainly not for the worlds second most populous nation, its vast size nor its rich and diverse culture. In 2002, the Indian government launched what was arguably its most successful campaign, Incredible India, to lure visitors. Visually attractive TV ads, supported by appealing music and print collateral adorning leading international newspapers, magazines and trade publications, the campaign made a signicant impact winning admirers among global marketers, industry peers and travellers themselves for an excellently executed campaign that also helped increase the countrys foreign exchange earnings. The slick campaign projected India as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing different aspects of Indian culture and history. Over the years, the campaign has captured different elements of Indias tourism offering be it heritage sites, forts, beaches, backwaters, lakes, mountains, adventure, wildlife, festivals, medical, wellness, religion and shopping. Millions of dollars have been spent on sprucing up the campaign since 2002 that has focused on a nation with hospitality at the core of the countrys values being promoted. As K Chiranjeevi, Indias Minister

of State for Tourism and former South Indian movie star, once put it: There is something for everyone and that is why we proudly say India is an incredible destination with a range of products found nowhere else. It is truly in India you will nd what youre seeking. However, the numbers dont stack up. Since 2002, visitor numbers have increased from 2.38mn, initially rising sharply in the few years that followed the Incredible India launch campaign, to 6.58mn in 2012. The earlier increase was supported by the rapid rise of the countrys aviation and hotel sectors. India, however, ranks only 11th in the share, of international arrivals among all nations across Asia Pacic. This equates to just 2.82% of the 233mn total arrivals in the region. China takes the lion share of 57mn tourists. Globally, India ranks number 41 or 0.64% of the 1.03bn annual tourist numbers worldwide. The gures are not impressive reading. In 1991, the Indian government had drafted an action plan aimed at lifting Indias international tourist arrivals to 1% of the global total by the turn of the century. The year 2000 came and the target was far from achieved with officials citing it was a dynamic and competitive world as other nations grew their tourism economies much faster than India. By comparison, Dubai attracted more than 10mn hotel guests in 2012 while Singapore welcomed over 14mn visitors both small markets in size and cultural diversity, yet both have developed a strong tourism strategy that includes powerful domestic airlines, strategic airport gateways to the region and globally. Why has India lagged behind? Why has India not captured its tourism potential? The glossy picture painted by the government is not what it seems. Indias image needs a facelift and needs to come to terms with the reality of whats happening on the ground. Furthermore, it needs to ensure the political will of planned action being seen through. Infrastructure remains far from the standards which tourists of all genres are used to. There are insufficient hotels at reasonable price levels to appeal to different tastes. Hotel room rates are extortionate compounded by the exorbitant taxes on occupancy. Opening up the countrys aviation sector has been a boon with more investment ploughed in. But this has been a slow process. Two new airlines will launch operations in India this year. Malaysian carrier Air Asia has joined forces with Indian conglomerate Tata to set up a new low-cost airline in the country. Tata has also signed up with Singapore Airlines to resurrect a plan conceived over a decade ago to create a full-service international airline in India. Both carriers will pump in new capacity and theoretically y more travellers to India. The state of the global economy will continue to dictate the number of inbound visitors, but all agree there is business to be had in India, yet at the right price and right conditions. Indias nancial capital Mumbai will next month have a sleek new terminal at Chhatrapati Shivaji International

Munnar in Kerala: the depreciating rupee may be ringing alarm bells across some sectors in India, but for tourism, this can be seen as a great opportunity.

Airport, the facilitys rst major upgrade for almost 30 years. Mumbaikars and visitors alike have had to endure endless immigration lines, cranky baggage belts that slowly churn out suitcases and a shoddy ambience. The near $900mn infrastructure improvement is much needed, signicantly adding capacity from the current 10mn to 40mn passengers a year. It comes three years after the opening of a new international terminal at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. Recent years have also seen expansion and refurbishment or new-build airports in a number of other cities, including, Hyderabad, Bengaluru (Bangalore) and Kolkata (Calcutta). Positive steps indeed as the level of service at an airport will always conjure up an image of the welcome visitors can expect to a country new to them. Earlier, I alluded to political will to see things through. The issue of visas come to mind. For almost 20 years, rumours have circulated about India offering visas on arrival to citizens of numerous countries. In the late 1990s, I wrote a column for a British newspaper on the Indian governments plans to introduce visas on arrival. A great move I thought avoiding the hassle and cost of visiting a consular office and waiting days for travel documentation to be processed. What seems like an age-old story keeps surfacing with slow progress. Nationals from a select few nations, namely Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore were accorded the facility at the schemes launch four years ago, followed by a further six countries in southeast Asia a year later. A decade of visa extension stories oated around to no avail. Yet there appeared a glimmer of hope last week when I read yet another report, with some scepticism I might add, that India will nally expand the visaon-arrivals scheme to nationals from 40 other countries, many of which account for the largest number of visitors to India each year. The service could be expanded as early as next month. Included in the list are said to be the US, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain and Holland. Yes it may well boost arrival gures. Between January and November 2013, almost 17,600 visas were issued on arrival, up 26% up on the corresponding months in 2012. But with a fortune invested in marketing and advertising campaigns through Incredible India, charging visa fees as much as 25% of the price of a return ight to India is detrimental to the objective of increasing tourist arrivals and a sour point not well thought through. This for sure needs revisiting. A weakened rupee could help rescue an industry in the short term. The depreciating rupee may be ringing alarm bells across some sectors in the country, but for tourism, this can be seen as a great opportunity. Being cheaper for international visitors, with strong buying power than ever before, should however not be taken for granted. Other more important issues need addressing. All this becomes insignicant as the tourism ministry needs to up the ante by tackling one of the most important issues creating headlines today safety of travelling around India. Has Incredible India become Incredibly Dangerous India? An Incredible India campaign three years ago, spearheaded by Bollywood ambassador Aamir Khan, focused on this very area with domestic screenings across India of a TV ad that addressed an issue which had for years been conveniently ignored.

The feel-good glossy campaign which Incredible India had imparted for years had, for the domestic audience, taken a social twist. Be caring, be observant and be helpful. The ad captured moments of travellers being harassed and travellers being ripped off, aimed at highlighting the shame such incidents has on locals and the country. Khan takes on some Indian men harassing female tourists wearing sleeveless tops. Professes Khan: Every visitor to this country is our esteemed guest. Take good care of them and our country will earn the respect. The guest is divine. Perhaps the ad needs repeating three years on and aired indenitely in a country that has suffered more shame and embarrassment following serious incidents of recent months. Reports of violent crime against locals and foreigners have tarnished the image of a country that truly has plenty to offer. Gang rapes the most recent being an alleged incident only this week of a Danish woman have sent shock waves across the country. Cases of molesting females have not disappeared from news networks which have gone to town on the story. Blogs, tweets and leading international media outlets have too gone into over drive on the horror stories experienced by travellers. Hotels have stepped up security following the deadly terror attacks of November 2008 in Mumbai in which many foreign tourists were killed. Yes, hotels can take big measures to ensure the safety of hotel guests, but not so on streets and in taxis. In the wake of the highly publicised sexual attacks last year, female travellers cancelled or avoided trips to India. According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India which surveyed 1,200 Indian tour operators, the number of inbound female tourists dropped 35% between December 2012 and March 2013, citing concern over safety as the reason. The association said India attempts to project a glitzy image in the eyes of foreign tourists, but instead the reported attacks raise worries about the safety of female travellers. Global risk consultancy rm Control Risks is reported to have said that violent crime against foreigners remains relatively rare in India. India remains generally safe for female travellers and most women will experience, at worst, unwelcome attention from men, said the rm, adding that tourists should be cautioned against travelling alone or in small groups as in many countries. Regardless, it is something India needs to address and can do without in a bid to swell tourist numbers to what the country deserves. But this will require a change in mindset and thinking in its approach. Not dealing with the problem will only heighten it and India could lose out in the long run to smaller neighbouring countries such as Nepal and Sri Lanka in the race for tourism dollars. So can this be a watershed year for tourism in India? A weaker rupee creating more spending power, more air capacity making tickets more competitively priced and an election year that will see unprecedented political activity with positive change at the heart of manifestos. Making the country more safe for sure will be on the agenda of all contesting parties. Indias magical 1% of global tourist traffic is still the goal, but it is a long way from being achieved. India needs to shift the goalposts, tackle issues rst hand and not gloss over them in a bid to make it more appealing for international visitors. Updesh Kapur is a PR & communications professional, columnist, aviation and travel analyst. He can be contacted at updeshkapur@ gmail.com