Indian Tourism Archives

No longer a slumbering giant, Incredible India is thoughtfully attracting varied tourism markets with an increasingly sophisticated marketing strategy. But there’s always room for more ‘incredibleness’ What are the drivers of increasing tourism to India? Source: AustradeI’m feeling guilty. Since returning from Australia Business Week in India in mid January I've written a lot about how Australia can profit from the source market opportunity that India represents.But I didn’t join the trade mission for that reason. Our purpose was to extend the reach of our business into India by connecting with the visitor economy there. We’ve always conceived of our business as a global one - after all Bron and I have conducted research in more than 40 countries for clients everywhere. Coming under the auspices of Australia’s largest-ever trade mission represented an unprecedented opportunity to position our business for success. So now it’s time to put something back by looking at how India could grow her tourism faster.India will be building from a strong foundationAs I thought about it, it seemed hard. Actually, India is doing a pretty good job of tourism already. According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation, India ranks 13th out of 184 countries for the contribution that tourism makes to its GDP. The tourism sector will become more important in the future. The IBEF study quotes WTTC research that says between 2014 and 2024 tourism in India is forecast to grow at 6.4% per annum compared to a world average of 4.2%.It is easing its VISA processes to make it easier to visit as a tourist with new visas on arrival available for people from many countries.It has a clear strategic focus on areas of strength such as medical, wellness, luxury and heritage tourism. Its ‘Incredible India’ campaign is both highly emotive and has been given the chance to grow and evolve over more than 12 years. Thus the government has avoided the trap of reinventing the wheel, choosing instead to capitalise on the brand equity it has already built.Its latest iteration has been segmented into a domestic version (Go Beyond) and an international version ‘Find what you seek’. The thinking behind the campaigns appears powerful. The government recognises the importance of domestic tourism and the need to ‘spread the love’ across more locations as the market matures. In the international campaign, it recognises that people want to come to India for many reasons and many different types of experience. It needs to broaden the appeal of its brand assets, without diluting them..However on deconstructing the campaign assets my feeling is that, whilst it showcases many types of experience, the iconography and the talent still seem to focus very much on one type of traveller. India doesn’t put its target customer profile into the public domain, but the traveller shown is what Canada (who has one of my favourite segmentation tools) would classify as the Authentic Explorer. This is a great segment for India and constitutes around 8-12% of the market in some of its main inbound markets like the UK, USA etc., However, by reaching out to a segment like CTC’s Cultural explorers (who want the history but want to be less deeply embedded in the current day country) or to Nature Lovers – India has the potential to double or treble its potential reach with many of its existing branding and communications assets. These groups would probably find images such as those boarding a bus with local people a bit confronting. It simply requires a greater focus on the experiences and less on immersion.The same would be true for targeting luxury travellers. Where these travellers and Authentic Explorers would overlap would be in the focus on unique and tailor-made experiences. Although those experiences themselves might differ. A couple that struck me from my visit that might actually appeal to both with a bit of tweaking: Source: Karyn Sobels, Simply BusinessWhilst I had a business meeting, my fellow cultural stream delegates were taken on a private tour of the National Museum in Delhi and given a special tour of the jewellery collection. The feedback from fellow delegates (including men who freely admitted that jewellery under normal circumstances was not their most motivating experience) was that this was a truly amazing experience.Similarly, CSMVS is a pioneering museum in Mumbai which has really turned around its visitation. Again, as trade delegates we got a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of their workshops and the privilege of seeing them capture the work of traditional craftsmen. I think tours like this could make a significant commercial contribution to the work of the museum. Including curated content around it on their website would be a powerful marketing tool.It can better leverage its fans to do the heavy lifting on tourism marketingOne under-potentiated asset for the industry are its advocates both within India and beyond it. It has an impressive marketing campaign and a country whose growing middle class are highly adept at social media. Yet I noticed relatively little attempt to use social media to drive conversations about the country on the Indian Tourism Board’s website (or elsewhere). Initiatives like wifi hotspots at key locations or viewpoints can drive inspiration to consider India afresh, but also in triggering a more active planning behaviour. Building engagement via social media is also very important in moving India up the search rankings. If you already know you want to go to India that might not matter, but if you are searching by experiences then this again puts India in front of people who may not be considering it or only doing so as part of a ‘long list’It can speed up or expand its sector focus a little There are also some specific sectors that could do with a greater focus in driving tourism. Firstly, the cruise industry. Indian tourism is beginning to embrace the cruise industry and we think this is an area that has real potential for India both coastal and river-cruising (at the right times of year). I’d urge them to move this up the list as cruising provides a great way to give visitors a ‘taster’ of India (and encourage repeat visitation). A fast-developing trend in cruising is ‘cruise plus’- combining cruising with land-based experiences. Pursuing these type of opportunities should be high on India’s agenda.The second is the business extender market India’s economic success is also bring a flood of business travellers to the country who can be encouraged to stay and enjoy the destination. Visit Britain has been a pioneer in recognising the economic value of ‘Business Extenders’ – especially those from countries where visa processes are a barrier to selection like China and (before the application of sanctions) Russia. Encouraging business extenders at the time of visa application to extend their stay is a common theme and needs to target both the traveller and the corporation. The wish of extending was very common in our delegation and I am sure many other business travellers feel the same way. (Easing visa restrictions for business visitors would also be a good incentive to more such trips.)Wise investment on the ground is needed – and now is a great time to do itChanges in India’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) laws now require businesses earning more than $100m to put 2-3% of their pre-tax profit into CSR. This is potentially creating an opportunity for cultural and heritage institutions to maintain India’s mind-boggling array of cultural locations and artefacts. I see two major opportunities for tourism here.The first is expanding the network of community-based tourism opportunities. This sits nicely within the CSR framework as it meets other needs beyond tourism in areas like economic sustainability and capacity-building. Indeed, as such initiatives compete against broader health and social agendas for support this ‘triple bottom line’ benefit is important. But an observation that both I and other delegates on my stream with a tourism background made, is that many places have a ‘fabric first, interpretation later’ mentality. Whilst preservation of these amazing assets is vital, building in interpretation, visitor management practices and practical details like toilets from the beginning will secure the future of these assets and make them viable and self-supporting from an early date (which again will make them attractive from a CSR perspective). Many cultural sites in India are still active as places of pilgrimage – just one fort in Rajasthan has to face 1.5 million visitors over one three-day period each year. We also heard that the marble at the Taj Mahal is being damaged by being ‘loved to death’. But closing or restricting access to sites that have previously been open is damaging to visitor engagement. Intelligent site management including different interpretation paths either by theme or time schedule. For example, for many visitors especially those from emerging markets a single photo or selfie) might be enough so routing them to a great viewpoint with simple interpretation may dramatically increase the carrying capacity of a location. So taking this 360° view from the beginning actually enhances the cultural work undertaken – and provides opportunities to build engagement and support for conservation from happy visitors. "India is oozing with rich heritage and experiences," says New Delhi based Stuart Rees of the Austrade (Australian Trade Commission). "We hope to assist India maximise it's appeal in the international tourism market by introducing new approaches from Australia that are designed to work at both home and abroad.”For any tourism destination a critical question is often whether to focus on a ‘drivers’ strategy (identifying what makes people want to come) or a ‘barriers’ strategy (overcoming the challenges to visitation). In the case of India, I think both are important but in different ways. In consumer marketing drivers should be foremost, but in policy, product development and consumer advocacy I think India has to deal with its ‘Elephants in the Room’ – the factors which prevent those who would otherwise fall in love with this amazing country from discovering it at all. I’ll focus on these in my next blog piece. Do you want to hear more from us? Want to be kept up to date with the latest travel and tourism insights? Join Our Mailing List. Every 2 weeks, we send the latest practical insight for you to apply to your business and destination marketing.