BTA 602-

TOURISM DEVELOPMENT & GOVERNMENT POLICY-UNIT 3

OVERSEAS MARKETING BY TOURISM DEPARTMENT, GOVT OF INDIA

Marketing objectives of overseas offices

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, through its 14 offices overseas

endeavors to position India in the tourism generating markets as a preferred tourism
destination, to promote various Indian tourism products vis-à-vis competition faced
from various destinations and to increase India’s share of the global tourism market.

The above objectives are met through an integrated marketing and promotional
strategy and a synergised campaign in association with the Travel Trade, State
Governments and Indian Missions. The specific elements of promotiona efforts
undertaken overseas include Advertisin in the Print & Electronic Media, Participation in
Fairs & Exhibitions, Organising Seminars, Workshops, Road Shows & India Evenings,
Printing of Brochures and Collaterals, Brochure Support/Joint Advertising with Travel
Agents / Tour Operators, Inviting the Media and Travel Trade to visit the country under
the Hospitality Programme etc.

Incredible India International Campaigns

Ministry of Tourism commenced its International TV Campaign (2009-10 –

Extended to 2010-11) for Europe and Americas region, which finished in the first half of
the 2010-11.In December, 2010, the Ministry launched its International TV Campaign
2010-11 - Europe. Leading TV channels of pan-regional reach are part of the Media Plan
of the Ministry.

Participation in Travel Fairs and Exhibitions

Indiatourism offices overseas have participated in the major international Travel

Fairs and Exhibitions in important tourist generating markets the world over as well as in
emerging and potential markets to showcase and promote the tourism products of the
country. These include Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, PATA Travel Mart in
Macau, World Expo 2010 in Shanghai, China International Travel Mart in Shanghai, ITB –
Asia in Singapore, World Travel Market (WTM) in London, IMEX in Frankfurt, FITUR in
Madrid and ITB in Berlin.
Indiatourism, Beijing was awarded the “Best Tourism Promotion Award” at the World
Travel Fair in Shanghai. Indiatourism, Tokyo was awarded the “Best Booth Operation
Award” at the Korea World Travel Fair and the “Best Tourism Promotion Award” at the
Busan International Tourism Fair in South Korea.

Some Major Promotional Activities Undertaken for Overseas

Promotion

The Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India undertook a series of promotional

initiatives to aggressively promote tourism to India.

As part of the promotional initiatives undertaken, Road Shows were organized in

important tourist generating markets overseas with participation of different segments
of the travel industry.

 Road Shows, in collaboration with the Indian Association of Tour Operators were
organized in CIS Countries, during the months of September-October 2010. Road
Shows in collaboration with the PATA India Chapter were organised in May 2010
in USA and Canada. The Road Shows comprised presentations on India followed
by one-toone business meetings between the trade delegation from India and
the travel trade in the respective countries. The delegation for the Road Shows
was led by the Secretary (Tourism).

 Indiatourism Toronto undertook massive advertising and outdoor publicity during

the Vancouver Winter Games 2010 in Vancouver and also Paralympics Games
2010 from February to March 2010.

 India Tourism Paris participated and supported the 3rd France-India Business Cup
Golf Tournament held at St. Tropez, France during 13th – 17th October 2010. A
high level delegation led by Hon’ble Minister Tourism, Joint Secretary (T),
Regional Director, India Tourism Frankfurt attended the event. Hon’ble Minister
of Tourism inaugurated the France-India Business Cup Golf Tournament on 14th
of October and there was a meeting held with various Stakeholders for
promotion of Golf Tourism.

 Indiatourism, Dubai organized the Golf Tournament at Ras Al Khaimah, United

Arab Emirates. Indiatourism Johannesburg organised “Know India” seminar to
the group of 12 people travelling to India and for the group of 6 ladies travelling
 to south India giving information about shopping, hotels, Ayurveda and spas and
safe travelling for women.

PROMOTIONAL PLAN OF STATES

(Case Study of Kerala)

Tourism initiatives in Kerala date back to the 1980s. A comprehensive tourism

policy launched in 1995 kick started focused efforts towards development of tourism
which have since then been followed by several tourism planning and development
initiatives categorised as per following:

1 Policy initiatives: First state in India to launch Tourism Vision 2025 strategy
document. First to launch Kerala Travel Mart as a permanent organisation to promote
tourist attractions worldwide. Launched the India International Boat show, the first of its
stature in South Asia.

2 Product development: Addition of new tourist destinations, launch of innovative

products like houseboats, tree houses and ayurvedic rejuvenation. Identification of
backwaters and ayurveda as core sectors of focus.

3 Marketing: Creation of specific products accompanied with product specific

marketing and promotion activities including invitations to world’s leading travel
magazines and newspapers to discover Kerala. 360 degree brand building campaign
‘God’s Own Country’ was launched to utilise below the line promotion activities in
addition to print and TV advertisements. Steps were taken to improve the state tourism
website which was made available in a number of languages including English, French,
German, Italian and Spanish for targeting visitors from these countries. In the year 2008,
Kerala Tourism became the first state in the country to develop tourism related web
content compatible with mobile phones.

Infrastructure: Kerala Tourism focused on developing the core and linkage

infrastructure both in terms of accommodation units as well as passenger
transportation building a critical mass of tourism workers, increasing technical skills,
strengthening community entrepreneurial skills and augmenting managerial capacity.
While such initiatives have helped Kerala strengthen its tourism appeal, The Kerala
Tourism Policy 2012 has been launched to augment past efforts and aid in developing a
responsible tourism movement in the state:
1 Tourism infrastructure development: Task force on infrastructure development
to be launched for development of local leisure destinations, wayside facilities and
provision of tourist information centres at major tourist destinations. Around 11
infrastructure projects with an outlay of INR 50 billion have been planned over the next
four years including a tourism complex at Veli in Thiruvananthapuram and an Ayurveda
manufacturing unit at Punalur.

2 Encouraging investment: Steps to encourage PPP participation such as fast track

clearance to tourism projects with investment above INR 0.1 billion, residential tariff for
home stays and other fiscal and non fiscal incentives.

3 Brand building: Kerala Convention Promotion Bureau (KCPB) plans to market

Kerala aggressively in the MICE business segment especially in countries of Australia and
China. Formulation of marketing strategies and destination specific campaigns along
with usage of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for promotional
campaigns is being implemented. Participation in both national and international road
shows/fairs such as Top Resa, Paris; JATA Travel Mart, Tokyo; WTM, London; ITB, Berlin
etc. and conducting workshops in countries such as Geneva, UK, New York, Chicago, Los
Angeles, Paris etc. being carried out to attract international tourists. International
Campaigns such as ‘Your Moment is Waiting’ reflect the increased focus on attracting
international tourists.

4 Usage of IT & communication: In the year 2012, Kerala became the first state in
the country to profile all tourist destinations across the state and to list services
available along with connectivity by integrating a new set of mobile-based services and
IT-driven projects. Other instances of IT usage include WAP guide, applications for
Android and iOS and Bluetooth kiosks.

5 From products to experiences: Plans to start ‘Spice Route tourism’ on lines of Silk
Route tourism of China which is expected to start from Muziris port in Kerala up to
Venice in Italy passing through 31 countries.

Success of steps outlined above is being reinforced through cooperation and

collaboration between various stakeholders such as tour operators, property owners,
travel agencies, government agencies etc. through various partnership meets organised
by Kerala Tourism in various parts of the country.
(Case Study of Gujrat)

The state government of Gujarat has taken multiple initiatives in order to

enhance the tourism appeal of the state. Some of these are:

1 Land bank scheme: Areas have been earmarked in the Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation estates and SEZs for development of hotels, resorts,
restaurants and other tourist amenities. Concessions are provided either on lease and
its tenure or on the rate to be charged for government land and on stamp duty and
registration fee on land transaction for tourism projects.

2 Tourism incentive package scheme: Special incentives are proposed to be

provided over 2010-2015 including tax holidays on luxury tax on hotels, reduction in VAT
charges on food and beverages and natural gas, reduction in entertainment tax,
concessions such as interest subsidy, reduction of electricity duty and modifications in
the lending criteria to cover wider tourism related projects like amusement parks,
wayside facilities, service oriented projects like travel agencies, tour operators etc.

3 Marketing & branding: Brand campaign ‘Khushboo Gujarat Ki’ was launched with
Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador to increase awareness of the state’s
diverse tourism aspects. Several tourism information centres have been opened across
India. The state website has been launched in seven different languages, especially to
cater to both national and international tourists.

4 Exhibitions, events & road shows: Gujarat tourism organises several exhibitions
and road shows especially in the southern India for marketing diverse tourism aspects of
Gujarat. Several road shows for 2013 have been planned in states of Kolkata,
Hyderabad, Guwahati, Bangalore, Chennai, Ludhiana and Aurangabad. Events such as
kite flying festivals are organised in order to attract tourists from various countries. In
addition events like Gujarat Tourism Summit and Gujarat Travel Mart help create
tourism potential awareness across all stakeholders. Gujarat tourism has signed various
MoUs with various states such as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttar
Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh for collaborative tourism development.

5 Infrastructure development: An outlay of INR 7.3 billion has been planned for
development of tourism infrastructure in 22 districts across the state. PPP is being
encouraged for the development of accommodation facilities, booking infrastructure,
site operations and retail and development of eight tourism hubs. Government has
entered into a tie up with IL&FS to develop 50 tourism sites and more than INR 20
billion of tourism related infra investments.

6 Kids tourism, golf tourism and coastal tourism: Gujarat Tourism plans to
introduce kids tourism during summer vacations in places that would be of interest to
kids. Another new tourism concept on ‘Rama trail is planned to make tourists
experience the journey that Lord Rama, Sita and Laxman undertook as part of their 14-
year exile covering locations such as Sita Van, Ram Sarovar, Unai and Shabari Dham. For
promotion of golf tourism in the state, private golf courses have been planned for
development. There are plans to develop cruise terminals for dolphin sighting trips etc.
for boosting coastal tourism in the state for which INR 1.6 billion have been allocated
across 16 identified beaches.

7 Training & skill development: Training and skill development for employees
engaged in providing tourism services through 335 Kaushalya Vardhan Kendras
providing vocational skills to rural youth in various sectors including tourism

IMPORTANT TOURIST TRAINS- Refer Surface Transport Notes

INCREDIBLE INDIA CAMPAIGN

In 2002, India's Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign to promote Incredible

India as a tourist destination. The phrase "Incredible India" was adopted as a slogan by
the ministry. Before 2002, the Indian government regularly formulated policies and
prepared pamphlets and brochures for the promotion of tourism, however, it did not
support tourism in a concerted fashion. However, in 2002, the tourism ministry made a
conscious effort to bring in more professionalism in its attempts to promote tourism. It
formulated an integrated communication strategy with the aim of promoting India as a
destination of choice for the discerning traveler. The tourism ministry engaged the
services of advertising and marketing firm Ogilvy & Mather (India) (O&M) to create a
new campaign to increase tourist inflows into the country.

The campaign projected India as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing

different aspects of Indian culture and history like yoga, spirituality, etc. The campaign
was conducted globally and received appreciation from tourism industry observers and
travellers alike. However, the campaign also came in for criticism from some quarters.
Some observers felt that it had failed to cover several aspects of India which would have
been attractive to the average tourist.

In 2009, Minister of tourism, Kumari Selja unveiled plans to extend the Incredible
India campaign to the domestic tourism sector as well. USD 12 million out of a total
budget of USD 200 million was allocated in 2009 for the purpose of promoting domestic
tourism.

In 2008, the Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign targeted at the local

population to educate them regarding good behaviour and etiquette when dealing with
foreign tourists. Indian actor Aamir Khan was commissioned to endorse the campaign
which was titled 'Atithidevo Bhava', Sanskrit for 'Guests are like God'. Atithidevo Bhava
aimed at creating awareness about the effects of tourism and sensitising the local
population about preservation of India's heritage, culture, cleanliness and hospitality. It
also attempted to re-instil a sense of responsibility towards tourists and reinforce the
confidence of foreign tourists towards India as a preferred holiday destination. The
concept was designed to complement the ‘Incredible India’ Campaign.

In 2015, Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, whose comments on perceived

intolerance in the country had created a controversy, ceases to be the mascot for
government’s ‘Incredible India’ campaign as the contract for it has expired. “Our
contract was with the McCann Worldwide agency for ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ campaign. The
agency had hired Aamir for the job. Now the contract with the agency is over. Ministry
has not hired Aamir. Iconic Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan and former Miss
World Priyanka Chopra have replaced Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador of
Incredible India.