Tourism in India

Tourism in India is the largest service industry, with a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% of the total employment in India. India witnesses more than 5.5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals and 740 million domestic tourism visits. The tourism industry in India generated about 100 billion US$ in 2008 and that is expected to increase to US$275.5 billion by 2018 at a 9.4% annual growth rate. In the year 2010, 17.9 million foreign tourists visited India. Majority of foreign tourists come from USA and UK. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are the top 5 states to receive inbound tourists. Domestic tourism in the same year was massive at 740 million. Andhra Pradesh , Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra received the big share of these visitors. Ministry of Tourism is the nodal agency to formulate national policies and programmer for the development and promotion of tourism. In the process, the Ministry consults and collaborates with other stakeholders in the sector including various Central Ministries/agencies, the State Governments/ union Territories and the representatives of the private sector. Concerted efforts are being made to promote new forms of tourism such as rural, cruise, medical and eco-tourism. The Ministry of Tourism is the nodal agency for the development and promotion of tourism in India and maintains the Incredible India campaign. According to World travel and tourism council, India will be a tourism hotspot from 20092018, having the highest 10-year growth potential. The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2007 ranked tourism in India 6th in terms of price competitiveness and 39th in terms of safety and security. Despite short- and medium-term setbacks, such as shortage of hotel rooms, tourism revenues are expected to surge by 42% from 2007 to 2017. India's 5,000 years of history, its length, breadth and the variety of geographic features make its tourism basket large and varied. It presents heritage and cultural tourism along with medical, business and sports tourism. India has a growing medical tourism sector. The 2010 commonwealth games in Delhi were expected to significantly boost tourism in India.

Marketing Campaign
Tourism is a major industry in India and the Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign to promote Incredible India as a tourist destination in 2002. 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 travelers 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, the Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign targeted at the local population to educate them regarding good behavior and etiquette when dealing with foreign tourists. Indian actor Aamir Khan was commissioned to endorse the campaign which was titled 'Atiti Devo Bhava', sanskrit for 'Guests are like God'. Atithi Devo Bhava aimed at creating awareness about the effects of tourism and sensitizing 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 re-enforce the confidence of foreign tourists towards India as a preferred holiday destination. The concept was designed to complement the Incredible India Campaign.

What is Atithi Devo Bhavah?

A pioneer initiative by Ministry of Tourism, Government of India that will help tap into the full potential of tourism in India. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has introduced Atithi Devo Bhavah Program- A nation wide campaign that aims at sensitising key stakeholders towards tourists, through a process of training and orientation. The endeavour is to boost tourism in India, which in turn would act as a catalyst for Indias economic growth. To launch a national level initiative that works at many levels to address all the above issues. Atithi Devo Bhava aims at creating awareness about the effects of tourism and sensitizing people about preservation of our rich heritage & culture, cleanliness and warm hospitality. It also re-instills a sense of responsibility towards tourists and re-enforces the confidence of foreign tourist towards India as a preferred holiday destination.

The entire concept is designed to complement the Incredible India Campaign.

Impact on Indian Tourism

According to spending data released by Visa Asia Pacific4 in March 2006, India has emerged as the fastest-growing market in the Asia-Pacific in terms of international tourist spending. The data revealed that international tourists spent US$ 372 million in India in the fourth quarter (October December) of 2005, 25% more than in the fourth quarter of 2004. China, which came second in the region, was successful in making international tourists fork out US$ 784 million in Q4 2005, a growth of 23% over its Q4 2004 figures. The tourist spending figures for India would have pleased the Indian tourism ministry, which had been targeting the high-end market through its long-running 'Incredible India' communication campaign.

Tourism Statistics
Statistical data is an important tool for the planners and policy makers. These data help the policy makers in planning, policy formulation and in observing the progress and impacts of the schemes. In a less serious sense these tourism statistics help the travelers to plan their trip. The tourism statistics of India gives details of international and domestic tourism. This is noted year wise. This tourism related data help us to know the rate of growth in the travel and tourism industry.
Inbound Tourism Statistics - India is visited by a huge number of tourists from all over the world and every year a change in the figure is recorded.

Foreign Tourists In India (Number) 2001 January February March April May June July August 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

283750 228150 274215 337345 385977 459489 532088 584765 262306 227529 262692 331697 369844 439090 498806 560658 248965 225558 218473 293185 352094 391009 444186 509926 185338 155378 160941 223884 248416 309208 333945 369677 151098 132998 141508 185502 225394 255008 267758 290785 176716 143100 176324 223122 246970 278370 310104 344526 224432 186432 225359 272456 307870 337332 377474 196517 161477 204940 253301 273856 304387 360089 -

September 162326 151721 191339 226773 257184 297891 325893 October 181605 212191 260569 307447 347757 391399 440715

November 209685 243566 290583 385238 423837 442413 510987 December 319271 417527 479411 541571 575148

Facts to know
Tourists inflow from Australia In the last three years the tourist arrivals from Australia to India have almost doubled to a record figure of 1,00,000. However India aims to double tourist inflow from Australia to two lakh in the next three years. Tourists inflow from Britain Every year about 3000,000 tourists from Britain visit India for both business as well as leisure. Tourists to India spend more.. Tourists to India spent $ 372 on their visa cards in the year of 2005. This is a 25% rise from the year 2004 thereby, making India the fastest growing Asia -Pacific market for the International tourist spending. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council , the Indian tourism demand will grow at an annual 8.8 % over the next ten years, fueled by higher incomes and lower air fares. Earnings on Tourism In 2005 India earned US $ 6.9 billion from inbound foreign tourists, which is more than twice the US $3.1 billion earned during the year 2002. According to the latest balance of payments figures released by the Reserve Bank Of India, 2005 was the year of fastest growth in forex inflows from foreign travel, during which inflows went up 36 %. Leading Tourist destination With nearly 140 three and two star hotels, Kerala has turned into a major hot spot for foreign tourists. However Tamil Nadu hold the second position in attracting foreign tourists. Mode of transport Air continued to be the predominant mode of travel for the tourists coming to India. However arrivals by sea were negligible. Age- Group factor An average foreign tourist is between age group of 20-40 years. Best time for tourists arrivals October to February is considered to be the peak season for travel by foreigners for business as well as leisure purposes. Employment generated by tourism in India Tourism Industry provides employment to about 2 crores of people in India.