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Essay on Tourism in India specially written for class 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and UPSC students ! Further, this essay will help you to learn about the growth and development of tourism in India.
Contents:
- Essay on Tourism in India- Introduction to International Tourism
- Essay on Tourism in India- Steps in Formulating Strategies for Promoting International Tourism in India
- Essay on Tourism in India- Basic Conceptual Considerations for Policy Formulation
- Essay on Tourism in India- Features of Suggested Indian Strategy for Promoting International Tourism
- Essay on Tourism in India- Organized Efforts to Promote Tourism in India
- Essay on Tourism in India- Operational Schemes for Promoting Tourism in India
- Essay on Tourism in India- Implementation Wing – The India Tourism Development Corporation
- Essay on Tourism in India- Tourism Information
- Essay on Tourism in India- Indian Destinations Prominently Emerging on the International Map
- Essay on Tourism in India- Human Resource Development in India
- Essay on Tourism in India- Monuments Preservation for Growth of International Tourism
- Essay on Tourism in India- India’s Effort to Promote Automation and Computerisation in the Travel Industry
- Essay on Tourism in India- India Promoting International Tourism with the Help of PATA
Essay on Tourism in India: Written For Class 8, 9, 10, 11,12 and UPSC Students (10,000 + Words)
Essay on Tourism in India – Introduction to Tourism in India
Tourism has become an important tool to gain economic self-sufficiency for several societies. India has also begun to utilise this tool for achieving self-sufficiency through promoting international tourism, but it is believed that India has yet to formulate proper strategy in this regard. India should formulate its strategy to promote international tourism based on professional principles of tourism business. It must evaluate the international trends related to the tourism business.
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The governing points of the strategy should be the strengthening and modernising required facilities and effective marketing of tourist products and services. It must offer clear-cut directions to effectively handle the issues related to environmental degradation and negative impacts of international tourism.
It must deal with the issues related to population boom caused by controlled death rate and scientific advancement. It is also believed that the international tourism creates better employment opportunities. The strategy must provide mechanism by which maximum advantages can be taken of these features of international tourism.
The formulation of strategy for promoting international tourism should be systematic and based on certain assumptions which have been developed on the basis of past experience by several countries of the world that have a distinct status of market leaders in the business of international tourism.
Essay on Tourism in India – Steps in Formulating Strategies for Promoting Tourism in India:
The proposed strategy should be a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan designed to assure that the country will effectively control the negative impacts of international tourism and yet able to increase the arrivals and receipts by international tourism in the coming years.
The basic strategy should be a stepwise process designed to reach the end goals and objectives.
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It should include the following elements:
Step # 1. Strategic Planning Elements:
These elements comprise of the country’s objectives and strategies. It also involves the formulation of the final tourism product design. The main strategic planners should be the National Tourist Organisations, Department of Tourism, professional organisations formed of the representatives of hotel enterprises, travel agents, tour operators and those social and cultural organisations which are concerned with the development of international tourism.
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The future demands that all those who are involved in formulating strategies should act as system architects. They should design the system for strategy implementation by keeping the country’s tourism products, market and technology in view.
The planners should emphasise on anticipation and rational analysis. They may seek the advice of the specialists and experts for coping with the crucial situations. The modern era needs the technology intensive process. It also needs the formal systems for anticipating the external environment and the information.
An interactive two-way communication channels linking the tourism administrators and the professionals with knowledge is needed. The organisational design criterion must be managed in such a way that there is continuous emphasis on efficiency, productivity and innovation.
Step # 2. Environmental Appraisal and Analysis:
The environmental appraisal is the process by which the planners monitor the economic, government, technological and market settings to determine the opportunities and threats for the country. A country whose strategy fits the needs of the international tourism markets will be able to obtain the maximum share of arrivals and receipts. The major cause of growth and decline in tourist arrivals are the changes taking place in the international market.
Therefore, the environmental search techniques should be involved to assess the international market. Many times the tourism industry of the country is confronted with the host of social, economic and technological threats. The international market is constantly changing in terms of attitudes and tastes of the international tourists.
The strategy has to be flexible and adaptable to the changing motives of the people. The architects of the strategy should keep those strengths of the nation in consideration which can be effectively used for promoting international tourism.
Step # 3. Considering Alternative Strategies:
The designers of the strategy for promoting international tourism in India can develop several models by keeping nation’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in view. The administrative agencies should evaluate several proposed alternatives.
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Step # 4. Choosing the Strategy:
The final choice of the strategy should depend on the ability of the implementing agencies and their relations with main sources of generating international tourists.
Step # 5. Implementation and Evaluation:
The best alternative strategy chosen by the implementing agencies should be converted into action. The results received as feedback should be evaluated. Some evaluations are done when the process to implement the strategy is in progress. It helps in identifying the deviations which are then rectified with the help of corrective measures. The final evaluation helps in the process of drafting a new strategy.
Essay on Tourism in India –Basic Conceptual Considerations for Policy Formulation
Today, world over the business of international tourism is organised in a professional manner. On the basis of their long and successful experience several leading countries in the business of international tourism have developed many conceptual considerations for formulating related policies.
Several other countries which have recently entered in the business of international tourism in a big way have also applied these conceptual considerations and emerged successful in achieving their pre-determined goals in this regard. India has also recently began its organised efforts in promoting the business of international tourism therefore it is recommended that following well experienced conceptual considerations may also be applied by India while formulating its related policies-
Conceptual Consideration # 1. The Role of State in Tourism Development:
During past few decades, the importance of controlled economic system has been minimised and replaced in most parts of the world by a system of free economy. This leads to reduced intervention of the state in the economic activities of the society and increased freedom to market forces in conducting and managing the economic ventures.
In this context, it is an important policy issue to settle that whether or not or to which extent the state should intervene in the activities related to the business of tourism, which is one of the fastest growing economic activity worlds over? By keeping this conceptual consideration, an attempt has been made to assess the role of the state in tourism development.
It will be appropriate to state that the expansion of tourism related activities during recent few decades has been phenomenon. The expansion of tourism business has not remained concentrated in some parts of the world but it has been universal. Thus, the pattern of expansion of tourism related activities approves the observation that the international tourism has converted the world into a global village.
By keeping this feature and pattern of growth of tourism business in view, it will be appropriate to claim that its performance and growth mainly depends upon the cooperation between different state governments of the universe. This explains the necessity of direct state intervention and active state participation for achieving desired objectives set for the business of international tourism. Besides this, tourism is an eminently public activity because of its economic structure.
As such, it must be subject to public regulation and coordination. Thus, the state plays an important role in formulating the National Tourism Policy. It has been appropriately observed in this regard, “The state intervention and its guided decision-making in the direction of development of tourism play a crucial role in the formulation of National Tourism Policy.”
Thus, to develop the tourism industry there is a need for an appropriate physical, regulatory, fiscal and social framework, which cannot be prepared without direct state intervention and active state participation.
The degree of intervention by state in these activities is of varying degree. The activities of state intervention includes- promotion, research and statistics, development of resources, operation of tourism facilities, liberalisation, tourist safety and international cooperation etc.
The vital role of state in the development of international tourism has been emphasised in the Round Table Conference of World Tourism Organisation held at Bali, Indonesia on 6th October, 1993 on the subject titled as “The tourism development and the role of state.” The Round Table conference has identified tourist accommodation, tourism profession and tourism aid as three main areas of priority for the state.
Similarly, the organisation of market research involves huge financial support and it can be provided by the state. Therefore, the state should take the responsibility of organising marketing research for tourism business.
Conceptual Consideration # 2. Community Involvement in Tourism Development:
The planners should actively involve the community in its task to protect environment and yet develop tourism in better and desired manner. In this regard it has been appropriately observed, “Tourism industry grows when the people in the industry and outside the industry are directly involved in it by a free mind and feel the enjoyment and rhythm of the industry.”
Tourism is an organisation managed by people who belong to the community. Tourism is a people’s industry and it is a fabric filled with many colours of human mind. The motivation of human effort has made it a success. So the involvement of community and its partnership in the development of tourism will not only improve the quality of life but will give satisfaction to the people as things will go according to them.
Tourism and community have symbiotic relations i.e., both survive on each other. Destruction of any one of the two, can lead to other’s failure. Tourism gets resources from the community and the community gets the economic and social benefits of improved life-style from tourism.
Conceptual Consideration # 3. Developing Sustainable Tourism and Carrying Capacity:
Developing the sustainable tourism is one of the main conceptual considerations which should be applied while formulating the related policies for promoting business of international tourism.
Sustainable tourism is defined as that type of tourism which fulfills the economic, social, aesthetic needs by maintaining the cultural and ecological integration.
According to an opinion, “The sustainable development is the one goal about which there is now near universal agreement. It means being up to the fact that facing the quest to improve our quality of life has an inherent constraint there is a limit to how much human population and activity our planet can withstand.”
In implementing this philosophy the underlying concepts have to be understood. The carrying capacity is the limit beyond which the destinations cannot bear the load of the visiting tourists. According to one opinion, “Sustainable tourism development in its broad sense is an exercise in sustainable resource management which seeks to avoid terms of development that may result in irreversible changes in the ecosystem by adopting the safe minimum standards.”
The professionals have agreed that destinations have limited carrying capacity but the scope of several limiting factors can be extended by proper planning and use of management techniques. In this regard, it has been highlighted by a professional, “In theory there is an infinite number of factors, to measure sustainable development however, only those which are potentially limiting factors are relevant.
The most important thing to note is that the limits are not necessarily absolute. It is possible to increase the capacity of many limiting factors by planning and management techniques and by using technology. Therefore the ecological carrying capacity is the level of visitation beyond which unacceptable impacts start occurring from the tourist or the host side.
The tourist and host social carrying capacity cannot be ignored while formulating related strategies. The tourist social carrying capacity is the level beyond which visitor satisfaction drops unacceptably from overcrowding. The host social carrying capacity is the level beyond which the host feels hostile towards the tourist as now the tourist is surviving on facilities snatched from the host.
Thus tourism development must be kept within the limits of the carrying capacity of the destination and this can be done by effective policy management. To maintain sustainable tourism there must be interplay of law, policy and management. These are the only tools to fight mass tourism. The basic techniques involved are zoning, standards setting, and licensing.
By realising the limits and levels of tourism i.e., the carrying capacity helps in easy policy formulation for the product management. Economic development by policies and objectives can be done by a broad policy capacity framework. The initial carrying assessment requires the area environmental analysis which helps in policy formulation.
The detailed carrying capacity assessment requires the detailed market survey, exploitation surveys, product surveys and the environment impact analysis. All these surveys help in policy choices. Monitoring, evaluation and feedback of carrying capacity involve implementation and management. The management requires marketing audit, operational audit, product audit, environmental audit and then finally the evaluation of the performance.
Conceptual Consideration # 4. Protection of Cultural Traditions:
The planners should not ignore the importance of cultural traditions which may be negatively influenced on account of unplanned development of tourism. The cultures which survive with the most integrity are those that welcome ideas with great interest and with enough self-confidence to progress with deeper values.
India should aim to promote sustainable tourism development in the context of cultural tourism by preserving cultural vitality and presenting traditions to the tourists in an atmosphere of mutual respect and dignity.
Conceptual Consideration # 5. Development of Quality Tourism:
The enhanced importance of sustainable development of tourism demands organised efforts by all concerned sections of the society to contribute to the promotion of better or quality development of activities related to tourism.
It requires following measures:
i. Making the community conscious about tourism development.
ii. Awareness about protection of environment while dealing with the tasks related to the development of tourism.
iii. Preparing development plans.
iv. Proper management of socio-economic impacts.
v. Close inspection of activities related to developing and managing the tourism sector.
Conceptual Consideration # 6. Role of Professional Organisation:
The international tourism refers to the movement of people from one to several parts of the world. It represents interaction of people with different socio-cultural and economic backgrounds. In other words, it brings people with one set of behavioural pattern and lifestyles to interact with other set of people with different behavioural pattern and lifestyle.
In order to be successful the country has to take the help of international and professional organisations for appropriately promoting the business of international tourism. It will facilitate Indian efforts to be integrated with worldwide business of international tourism. The professional organisations are actively involved in organising researches and studies and indicate related international trends.
These organisations work on developing statistical information about various aspects of international tourism, which is an important source for drafting related strategies. The integration and cooperation may involve transfer of several resources like capital, technology and the managerial personnel and relevant information to the national planners and promoters.
Essay on Tourism in India – Features of Suggested Indian Strategy for Promoting Tourism in India
The study and analysis of tourism activities and trends show that Indian tourism products are capable of attracting an impressive share in business of international tourism. It will be appropriate to state that several countries have acquired leading position in this business with proper strategic actions and by effectively selling their one or more natural or manmade tourist products.
In comparison to this, India has mountains, deserts, areas with heavy rainfall, historical monuments like forts, palaces, temples and other important religious places, museums, attractive dances, music and folklores, exciting dresses and ornaments and above all pleasing hospitality. The weak status of Indian currency in comparison to hard currencies also offers an added attraction for the tourists from developing economies to prefer Indian destinations.
Thus it will be no exaggeration to explain that Indian tourism products are very rich which can be sold to international tourists of all categories in all seasons and thus considerably increase its share in arrivals of international tourists and tourism receipts.
The tourism industry is changing fast and new strategies are required to meet challenges of the coming decades. The challenges are astonishing, the future tourist is more aware of technical and scientific knowledge and knows the value for money which he spends on purchasing services related to tourism.
The new world order of the Post-Cold-Era is evolving in a very fundamental way to rush to the magical year of 2000. The dimensions of change are the shifting value systems, the quest for stability and security, decline in mega nations with evolution of city states, and there will be pressures for mass migration.
The coming decades will be shaped by a new framework which will change the existing governing systems and procedures. The physical environment will take the centre stage in the development. The patterns of tourism will be transformed by increasingly diverse lifestyles of tourists. Demographic shifts will occur and cultural diversity will be demanded.
The technological pressures will improve the mark of productivity. The continued regional conflicts and terrorist activity will be the impeding force. There will be human resource shortage to meet the demand of manpower required for effective management of tourism related activities.
The proposed Indian strategy for promoting business of international tourism should be carefully formulated to take maximum advantages of the existing opportunities and effectively meeting the challenges of the coming decades.
The strategy management should carry following features:
Feature # 1. Restructuring the Organisational Approach:
The organisational structure plays an important role in the operation and performance of activities related to international tourism in any country. It gives an insight and clarity of tourism policies and procedures. By keeping new international trends in view, the state managed national tourism organisations and private sector enterprises in this business will have to assume several new functions which were not envisaged before.
The government should offer more autonomy to its Department of Tourism which is needed to coordinate the multi-functional activities organised by public and the private sector. It must become a professional body to manage the balance between development and marketing.
The Department of Tourism must be restructured and given a new and professional outlook. The Board of the Directors must consist of experienced and professional people (instead of traditional practice of appointing people from Indian Administrative Services) to assist the Chief Executive Officer.
It has been rightly suggested that the organisation dealing with international tourism should have a framework capable of holding together far-reaching operations with long lines of communication across boundaries of nation and lifestyles.
It must fulfill the need to:
i. Stimulate and support the correct decisions in the right place;
ii. Ensure that authority is exercised competently where and when required;
iii. Provide reports from state units as well as those operating in the international market. It will enable the organisation to identify problems as and when they arise. Similarly to notice excellence in performance by these units;
iv. Provide an effective channel for other required communications;
v. Build a management development system and career structure;
vi. Ensure that the aims and objectives of the organisation, including quality and service, are achieved in national, state and other units operating in the international market; and
vii. Keep in active consideration that if career expectations of the human resources are overlooked then the organisation may fail to work in desired manner and contribute expected results.
Feature # 2. Infrastructure Expansion and Reorganization:
Infrastructure is the vital segment for the expansion and growth of the business of international tourism. The national policy formulation should be prepared in a careful and detailed way so as to cover the loss of the neglect for the past few years. The concept of transportation has changed from the tourist transit to a source of satisfaction. Airports have to be built in such a way that they should be able to facilitate all the needs of tourists.
It must have restaurants, bars, shopping facilities, rest rooms, and car-hire services to connect air services to the surface transport. Modernisation and expansion programmes must be implemented to increase the carrying capacity of the airports. There must be a series of inclusive tours by charters and scheduled services for promotion of tourism. As business and tourism is growing, air taxi services is proposed for faster transport of cargo and passengers.
The embarking, disembarking and transiting of the passengers must take a shorter duration to reduce the stress of the tourists. Complaints and delays must be efficiently dealt so as not to hurt the tourist’s satisfaction value. The international airports at Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai should build new gateways to connect the new resorts. The procedures for clearance of air travellers should be carried out in such a manner as to retain the advantage of speed inherent in air travel.
The efficiency and the carrying capacity of the airports can only be increased by a clear policy aiming to remove the regulations of the government. The competitive era proposes the policies of privatisation and liberalisation for air transport. Price will be the winning strategy in the coming years and this will force new alliances and mergers with other airlines for the reduction of the costs.
The air transport is proposed to go to the era of globalisation as it will create an environment for multilateral agreements to replace the bilateral agreements. The open sky policy thrown in the market is still vague and inconsistent. The government and policy makers should open the gates of liberalisation only after assessing the financial capabilities of the private carriers so as to reduce the failures and losses. The anticipated proposed dream can only be successful if nation has the proper investment and resource base.
For this:
i. The government can give long-term lease to the private airlines for maintenance and hanger facilities;
ii. The international routes should also be opened to the private airlines; and
iii. The operational cost can only be maintained by common policies on salaries and prices of fuel.
The surface transport by rails and taxis is the important source of mobility to tourists. Railways catering to the needs of millions of people have to streamline the procedure for reservations and confirmations to save the time of the tourists. The schemes as Indrail Pass can only be a success if the offices of the selling tickets are located at the points of origin of the tourists.
The railways seriously need the upgradation of the facilities to increase a substantial share in the tourism market. The development must be such so as to cover all the circuits connecting to the important tourist destinations. It needs a sophisticated base of professionalisation and training to promote tourism.
The accommodation sector needs an urgent expansion programme to meet the increasing demands of the tourists. The service value provided should be able to meet the expectations of tourists. Hospitality has to be marketed as any other consumer good in the world of competition.
It is estimated that the present capacity of the accommodation has to be doubled to meet the forecasted figures of tourist arrivals. As accommodation is the capital intensive industry so it needs the help of the private sector.
The national tourism policy should aim to increase the quantum of incentives to boost the development by the private sector. The main incentives to make the tourism prospects viable should be subsidised by long-term loans, provision of land at less than market value, tax holidays for 10 years, development rebates and refunds in customs and excise. For an accelerated growth the public and private sector have to go hand in hand.
If this is not the solution then the foreign investment must be invited to cope with the pace of demand and development. At this stage of the development, nation needs a favourable investment policy to attract the investment from external sources. Foreign investment should be invited in form of soft loans and not in form of equity to dilute the powers of owners. The friendly countries that have the surplus money should be allowed to invest in this country.
The opportunities for safe investment with moderate returns must be created. The help from the World Bank and other financial institutions can be of utmost importance if proper feasibility analysis is done before the operation of the funds. Many hotel projects fail and eat a lot of cost because of the selection of improper sites and lack of planning.
The concentration of hotels in one area can make them unprofitable due to price war of the competitive era. These hotels have to be dispersed to the proper sites where tourism potential is still not extracted so as to gain control over profit and cost.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank had been very conservative in financing the tourism projects. Because of this neglect the real potential of tourism has still not been extracted. The nation should propose to the World Tourism Organisation to form a New International Credit Institution which could solely aim to promote international tourism in developing countries like India.
This institution would be capable of recycling the financial and technical resources from the oil producing and industrialised nations to developing countries.
Feature # 3. Tourism Planning and Promotion:
The second part of the twentieth century has noticed a remarkable growth and expansion of the business of international tourism. It is expected that it will further expand its scope in early decades of the twenty-first century. Since India is also expecting opportunities for improved share in the arrivals of international tourists and tourism receipts, therefore, it is needed to adopt a planned framework for promoting international tourism.
The strategy formulators will have to adopt futuristic approach by assigning proper planned roles to the public sector and private sector agencies involved in this business.
The planned promotional strategy must be able to meet the following requirements:
i. A thrust on manifold improvement in tourism related services such as transportation, accommodation, travel agencies and tour operations.
ii. An aggressive marketing to sell Indian tourist destinations and tourism services in the international market.
iii. The single market concept has to be substituted by multiple market concepts to attract large clientele. The strategy formulators should make organised efforts on proper segmentation and diversification of markets.
iv. The public sector agencies should seek guidance from professional organisations to make their programmes more attractive.
v. A systematic and synchronised approach is needed to maintain a balance between the traditional and modern resorts.
vi. To prominently develop and popularise several of the less known sites like beaches, historical monuments, wildlife sanctuaries and hill resorts in international market.
vii. To identify new segments of international tourists on the basis of their demographic characteristics and make organised efforts about their arrivals in Indian destinations.
viii. The strategy formulators should draw plans to attract international tourists during off seasons (for certain destinations) with offers of special discounts and incentives. The airlines and prominent hotels may be involved in drawing such plans.
ix. A promotional mix may be formed of the following-
(a) To effectively inform the targeted segment of international tourists,
(b) To properly persuade the targeted segment of international tourists,
(c) To timely remind the targeted segment of international tourists, and
(d) To appropriately reinforce tourist satisfaction once the travel has been made.
Feature # 4. Public Relations:
The public relation is an important aspect of promoting international tourism. It is a powerful medium for guarding and developing the national image in the international market. The strategy formulators should draw plans for proper utilisation of main tools of the public relations including press releases, picture stories, news bulletins, photographs and brochures. The media selection should be made by taking into the account the needs of the target markets.
Therefore, to woo the clients from the different segments, the public relation programmes must be efficiently geared to the requirements of marketing plans. It must be in tune with the marketing policies and objectives of the tourism organisations. The public relation machinery must be used to communicate certain special themes, events and newly developed facilities and services for international tourists. The public relation programmes must be prepared in detail and specific way and must vary from market to market.
The effect of public relation is more visible and immediate than anything else so the strategy formulators should include all those aspects in it which are aimed at fulfilling traveller’s expectations and satisfaction. The brochures must be attractive and carry all required information. Attempts should be made to highlight the exhibitions, fairs and festivals organised in India which may attract attention of international tourists.
Feature # 5. Emphasis on Market Analysis and Market Research:
It has already been pointed out that the business of international tourism has entered in an era of cut-throat-competition and therefore it is heavily under the influence of market forces. In other words, the business of international tourism has moved in buyers’ market where the purchasers of tourism products and related services have several alternatives to choose one that best suites to them.
Thus, it is not a simple affair to comfortably sell whatever tourism products and related services are available with the sellers.
By keeping this in view it will not be an exaggeration to state that the strategy formulators should be absolutely aware of the market situations and consumer behaviour. The strategy formulators must be able to match its objectives with the available opportunities. At the same time the level of demand and the carrying capacity of the destinations must be examined.
By keeping the market environment in consideration the strategy formulators must identify the target markets and segments and attempt to position their products effectively therein. These demands for a thorough market analysis.
For long-term survival and growth of the business, the sellers have to undertake effective market research to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to its own tourism products and services and those of the close competitors and then formulate required strategies based on the information acquired by organising market research.
The organisation of market research for formulating strategies for promoting the business of international tourism involves thorough investigations about basic national policies, available infrastructure of the nation, important monuments and heritage properties of the nation, socio-cultural and economic background of the nation and other similar aspects of national importance.
In this regard it has been rightly observed as, “The concept of tourism policy must involve a choice of targeted objectives to expand this activity, taking into account the environment situation of a nation, its general economic policy and all its component parts.” Therefore, the process of strategy formulation should be strongly supported by the findings of well organised market researches.
The state should provide required financial and other facilities for organising market research and obtain appropriate indicators for formulating effective strategy for promoting the business of international tourism.
Feature # 6. Identification of New Demand and Market:
The world is experiencing an increase in the population of healthy persons mainly on account of increased medical facilities which has considerably reduced the mortality rate. This increases the number of potential consumers of tourism products and services. The strategy makers can identify the location of these potential buyers and their basic requirements and then accordingly formulate the strategy to promote international tourism.
According to certain assessments the referred potential buyers may be classified as senior citizens with better mark of disposable income and youth tourists with independent sources of earning. The strategy makers can design tourism products and services which may attract senior citizens and youth tourists.
According to several other assessments, almost three-fourth of the international tourists are holiday-makers for leisure and pleasure who prefer freedom of choice about selection of destinations, transport modes, accommodation facilities and other facilities. An attempt was made to classify and notice different priorities of the holidaymakers.
It signifies as, “Holidaymakers can be divided into those who are conservatives and risk-averse and those who wish to try something new and willing to accept some risk. The conservatives tend to take the same type of holiday year after year – returning to the same country once they have found one they enjoy (and even to same resort or hotel), whereas the risk takers seek out new experiences in terms of climate, culture, scenery, and so on.”
It will be proper to claim that holidaymakers are the prominent segment which creates major demand in the international market of tourism. This segment is the main target of competing countries for attracting their arrivals into their respective countries. The Indian strategy formulators will have to consider that which of the two sets of holidaymakers or a mix of two sets is to be made their target and then accordingly draft their strategies.
It is suggested that the senior citizens belong to the conservative category of holidaymakers and youth tourists belonging to the category of risk takers should become the target of Indian strategy makers for promoting international tourism. Once the conservative holidaymakers are committed to Indian destinations and the mark of services offered to them then they can make repeated arrivals.
Similarly, several factor of Indian tourism are capable of attracting youth tourists from developed economies. With these explanations, it will be proper to establish that the identification of new demand and markets therefore is the basic requirement for appropriate formulation of strategy for promoting international tourism.
Feature # 7. Efforts to Enhance Economic Gains:
The international tourism has been claimed as the glamour girl of world economy as it offers attractive opportunities for making economic gains by earning foreign exchange. The Indian strategy makers for promoting international tourism should design and adopt such courses of action by which nation can enhance its scope for economic gains. Efforts should be made to encourage the wider tourism sector and expand its earning base.
A dual tax structure can be developed where the residents are to pay lower taxes than the foreign visitors. An accurate tax profile can be a valuable planning input. The expanded scope of international tourism will increase nation’s employment potential, improve the mark of per capita income, develop several undeveloped regions and offer several other economic gains.
It may also be kept in consideration those economic gains by expanding scope of international tourism offers multiplier effect. Thus, the strategy makers should draft their strategies in such a way that it effectively contributes economic gains to the nation.
Feature # 8. Development of Human Resources and Professionalising Business of International Tourism:
The basic aim of the business of international tourism is to attract visitors from different tourist generating countries and to provide them with all required facilities but at present the Indian tourism industry is facing a serious challenge of the non-availability of skilled manpower.
Therefore to attract the maximum number of foreign tourist arrivals and thereupon to manage a respectable share of foreign exchange, there is an urgent requirement of trained manpower to manage various activities related to the tourism industry. Such trained manpower will certainly be an asset for this industry which is hoping to cater to a larger number of tourist arrivals in the coming years.
The proposed strategy should draw a basic procedure which can be feasible at operational stage. Tourism as a subject needs specialised academicians to impart knowledge at the higher education level. The education on tourism is handicapped on account of the shortage of good books and literature. Few books which are available at present have become outdated and most of these books deal only with the conceptual framework of the study.
There is an acute shortage of literature related to operators and specialised areas of tourism. So now time has come when the government should sponsor different resource persons specialised in trade to write books and prepare literature so that people can create interest in this field.
The government is also suggested to conduct various reorientation programmes for the teachers working in the different universities. The quality of teaching must keep pace with the development and innovations taking place in the industry.
The qualitative and quantitative dimensions of tourism should be given attention. The government is also suggested that the public and the private sector bodies should be closely associated with identification of needs, planning and initiating training courses tailored to the needs, monitoring the results and reviewing the overall organisation and direction of training at national level.
Feature # 9. Developing Nation’s Image in International Market:
The image of the nation, its destinations and level of tourism services plays very crucial role in determining the mark of the arrival of international tourists which subsequently affects the mark of tourism receipts. By keeping this feature of international tourism in view, the strategy formulators should not leave any stone unturned to build nation’s appropriate image in the international market of tourism.
For achieving this objective, the strategy formulators should develop an effective mix of promotional tools such as public relations, advertising and personal selling. The promotional strategy should be effectively implemented in the target markets. The targeted segments of international tourists must be properly informed about the features of the tourism products and services.
For this purpose, the services of prominent professional dealers in the international market may be obtained. Organised attempts must be made to win faith of the potential international tourists by developing nation’s appropriate image. Once the tourism product is favoured or wins a positive attitude of potential buyers then it can do wonders.
For building the nation’s image an advertising campaign may be launched which should include following steps:
i. Defining the product.
ii. Planning the market segments on the basis of-
(a) Consumer information.
(b) Distribution information.
(c) Sales information.
(d) Attitude segmentation.
iii. Interpreting the marketing objectives.
iv. Make up the Media Plan.
v. Implementing the campaign.
Feature # 10. Effective Management of Negative Impacts:
The international tourism offers several socio-economic advantages but at the same time it may generate several negative impacts, if it is developed without proper strategies and planned framework. Therefore, strategies for its expansion should be clubbed with courses of actions to effectively control negative impacts.
The lure for expanding scope of international tourism may sometimes neglect efforts to preserve the heritage, art and culture of the nation. It is believed that expansion of tourism industry leads to commercialisation of traditional art, culture and heritage. In this context, it will be proper to state that the individuality and originality of any country is one of the main sources of attraction for international tourists. The regular organisation of fairs and festivals in their original form may effectively help in preservation of cultural heritage.
The interaction of hosts with foreign guests may also degrade rich social values. The induction effect of foreigners’ habit of consuming drugs may lead local population also to develop such habit. The lure of foreign tourists from developed economies for sexual relations with persons of same or opposite sex in the developing economics has led to a serious social problem and created expanded possibilities for AIDS.
Its other ill effect is the leakages of foreign exchange in form of import of sophisticated technology for the development of infrastructure. The encouragement of the domestic supply sources will reduce foreign exchange leakages by substituting import situations. The lack of knowledge related to the market, capital and expertise are the common barriers to the increasing leakages.
The strategy makers should look to these aspects and encourage import substitutions over a longer rather than a shorter period. The growth of traditional industries is hampered because of more emphasis on the promotion of glamorous tourism industry. Similarly other negative economic impacts can also be identified.
The ignorance about sustainable tourism development leads to the degradation of natural resources and causes environmental pollution. The mass tourism leads to congestion and concentration. There should be an organised effort to educate citizens about their civic responsibilities to control these negative impacts.
Manila declaration resolved in this regard as, “Preparation for tourism should be integrated with the training of the citizen for his civic responsibilities. In this respect, government should mobilise the means of education and information at their disposal and should facilitate the work of individuals and bodies involved in this endeavour. Preparation for tourism, for holidays and for travel could usefully form part of the process of youth education and training. For these reasons, the integration of tourism into youth education constitutes a basic element favourable to the permanent strengthening of peace.”
The magnitude of the problem is down to earth so much so that it has now become expedient for the nation to formulate a pragmatic set of priorities to prevent the earth from the ill effects of progress. India has to effectively deal with the various problems generated by tourism so that it leaves the scope to promote final human faculties to pursue the passions and obsessions in areas as technology, art, leisure and recreation.
Thus, the strategy formulators should identify the character and scope of negative impacts of expanded form of international tourism. The proper measures to control these negative impacts should become basic input in the proposed strategy.
Feature # 11. Tourism Safety and Health:
The management of international tourism includes a prominent responsibility to protect the tourists, the tourist sites and attraction so that future generation may benefit from them. Even the Human Rights identified by the United Nations clearly indicates that everyone has the right to live in any country including his own and return safely to his country.
By keeping this in consideration the question of safety and security should be given paramount importance while drafting strategies related to the promotion of international tourism. In this task it will be necessary to seek the cooperation of all those concerned with health, insurance, security, promotion and development of tourist spots.
In this way, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Civil Aviation, Indian Railways, Ministry of Transport, Department of Environment, Public Works Department, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Communication, Police Departments, Insurance Companies, state governments, hotels, travel agents, tour operators, transporters etc. will have to involve in planning and implementing packages for tourist safety and health.
The World Tourism Organisation has worked on the issues related to the safety and health of international tourists. These must be kept in active considerations of the strategy formulators.
These include:
i. Tourism consumer protection;
ii. Tourist protection and security;
iii. Tourist Insurance plan;
iv. Tourist health;
v. Suppressing drug abuse and illicit trafficking by tourists;
vi. Travel opportunities for the handicapped tourists.
Therefore, safety and health of international tourists should be given special importance in tourism development strategies.
Due attention should be paid to and improvement should be sought in the following areas:
i. Regulations;
ii. Institutional framework
iii. Public education; and
iv. Staff training.
Essay on Tourism in India – Organized Efforts to Promote Tourism in India
To assimilate the suggestions made by the Jha Committee and mitigate other problems, a high level Coordination Committee was appointed in 1965. The Coordination Committee made several suggestions for preparing an effective organisational network for promoting tourism in India.
On the basis of the recommendations of this Committee, following corporations were formed:
1. Hotel Corporation of India Ltd.
2. Indian Tourism Corporation Ltd.
3. Indian Tourism Transport Undertaking Ltd.
Later, these corporations were amalgamated to form the Indian Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. The most significant move to promote tourism in India was initiated in 1967 by formulating a separate Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism. Since its inception, the Department of Tourism has performed several vital activities which have prominently contributed in promoting tourism on the global scale.
The major activities performed by the Department of Tourism include the following:
1. The compilation and proper distribution of tourist information is one of the important vehicles of attracting domestic as well as international tourists to India from different parts of the world. In this regard, it may be specifically pointed out that India is a vast country with variety of tourist destinations and products. On account of this typical feature of the country, compilation and distribution of tourist information about India becomes an important job.
By noting the importance and usefulness of this vital vehicle for promoting tourism, the Department of Tourism took over the responsibility of compiling and providing the tourist related publicity material to the organisations in tourism business in particular and travellers in general.
2. The Department of Tourism is making effective and organised efforts to seek and cooperate with international travel and tourist organisations to encourage as much arrivals of inbound tourists as possible to Indian destination.
3. The Department of Tourism is also contributing to simplify the process related to the frontier formalities.
4. It has been appropriately pointed out that development of tourist facilities of international standards and promotion of international tourism go side by side. The efforts to develop international tourism in any country may fail if it fails to provide required facilities of required standard to the visiting tourists. Thus, the Department of Tourism has taken up the responsibility of developing tourist facilities of international standard in India.
5. The Department of Tourism has been making specific efforts related to publicity and promotion of Indian tourist destinations and products on global scale.
6. The Department of Tourism is also looking after the task of regulating various segments of tourism business such as hotels, youth hostels, travel agents etc.
7. The Department of Tourism has now taken up the responsibility of conducting market research and studying the national as well as global trends related to the tourism industry.
8. The Department of Tourism has very recently realised and initiated significant efforts to appropriately develop managerial and non-managerial human resources for suitable and desired growth of various sectors of tourism industry.
9. The representatives of the Department of Tourism are regularly participating in the meetings and conferences of international organisations working as noddle agencies for promoting tourism industry world over. For this purpose it has taken membership of bodies like World Tourism Organisation, Pacific Asia Travel Association etc.
The Department of Tourism is a policy making and an executive organisation which corresponds directly with other ministries and departments.
It has both promotional and organisational functions which fall under the following categories:
1. Planning.
2. Publicity.
3. Travel Trade and Hospitality.
4. Accommodation.
5. Supplementary accommodation and wildlife.
6. Market Research.
7. Administration.
The main functions of the Department of Tourism are as follows:
1. Collection, compilation and dissemination of Tourist information.
2. Cooperation with international travel and tourist organisations.
3. Publicity of tourism at home and abroad.
4. Conducting surveys and market research.
5. Promotion of new destinations.
6. Simplification of frontier formalities.
7. Regulation of activities related to hotels, youth hostels, travel agent etc.
“In order to establish liaison with various ministries, and coordinate various activities pertaining to tourism, the Department constituted the following committees and advisory bodies” – A. K. Bhatia
1. Standing Facilitation Committee of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
2. Civil Aviation Development Fund Committee.
3. Advisory Committee on the Indian Airlines.
4. Export-Import Advisory Council.
5. Indian Board for Wildlife.
6. Central Advisory Board of Archaeology.
7. Airdrome Planning Group.
8. Hotel Industry Study Groups of the Ministry of Labour.
9. Governing Body of the Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Nutrition, New Delhi and Kolkata.
10. Ad-hoc Committee to review statutory rules regarding the use of protected monuments and sites for holding public functions sponsored by the government organisations.
11. Central Post and Telegraph Advisory Council.
12. India Tourism Development Corporation.
Essay on Tourism in India – Operational Schemes for Promoting Tourism in India
India has made several operational schemes to promote inbound tourism from several tourist generating countries of the world.
Some of such schemes are explained in the following explanation:
The “Operation Europe” scheme was formulated in 1968 with the aim of promoting India. Air India and Department of Tourism started their operations by opening-offices in Geneva, Milan, Brussels, Vienna and Stockholm. This scheme resulted in success showing a heavy increase in the number of tourist arrivals.
This scheme extended its area of operation to the countries like United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada. Now the operations have reached the point of globalisation by covering almost all the nations.
After this, the “operation America Project” was launched with the opening of regional offices in Chicago, Los Angles, Toronto etc. In 1977 again the operation scheme to Australia was launched. The other countries covered under operation scheme included Singapore, Bangkok, Osaka and Melbourne.
The main aim of the Operation Scheme is to promote tourist traffic. This is a joint venture of Department of Tourism with Air India.
There are 19 overseas offices, covering the following areas:
1. New York – operation America covers the United States of America and Latin America.
2. Los Angeles – covers Canada and Caribbean Islands.
3. Toronto.
4. London – operation U.L. covers U.K. and Ireland.
5. Geneva – Operation Europe covers the continent.
6. Paris.
7. Frankfurt.
8. Amsterdam.
9. Madrid.
10. Milan.
11. Sydney – Operation Australasia covers Australasia.
12. Kuala Lumpur – New Zealand, Fiji, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia.
13. Tokyo – Operation East Asia covers Japan.
14. Bangkok – Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand
15. Bahrain – Promotion at Bahrain.
India is making tremendous efforts to promote international tourism. It has set up its regional offices at Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras. The government has also established tourist offices in the capital of every state of the Indian Republic.
Essay on Tourism in India – Implementation Wing – The India Tourism Development Corporation
Indian Tourism Development Corporation is the implementation wing of the Department of Tourism. The evolution of this corporation took place because of the several reasons. One of the reasons was that the private sector was not able to satisfy the requirements of tourism industry.
The appropriate growth of tourism industry involves heavy investment and long gestation period, which is considered beyond the capacity of the private sector. Indian Tourism Development Corporation was set up on October 1, 1966 with an authorised capital of five crore rupees.
The Indian Tourism Development Corporations is a state owned undertaking. To this corporation, the funds are provided by the government in the shape of equity and loan capital. The Indian Tourism Development Corporations has acquired international fame by offering a complete package of services as accommodation, transport, shopping, entertainment and publicity.
It is an established fact that most of the public sector enterprises in India are not making profits but The India Tourism Development Corporations (public sector enterprise) has earned profits and completed all of its social obligations. It has offered competition to the private sector and encouraged them for increasing the efficiency and quality of services.
The Ashok Group of Hotels in India belongs to India Tourism Development Corporations which is the largest accommodation chain, offering one of the best facilities in the country. This corporation is also running duty free shops at five international airports of Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Trivandrum. It also runs the sound and light shows at the Red Fort, Delhi; Shalimar, Srinagar; and Sabarmati Ashram, Ahmedabad and several other places in the country.
According to some assessment the show at Red Fort is considered to be the best in the world. Indian Tourism Development Corporation has developed new destinations for international tourists at the Khajuraho, Kovalam, Mahabalipuram etc. The infrastructure is being strengthened at Agra and Jaipur as these destinations are emerging as the major attractions for the foreign tourists.
The Indian Tourism Development Corporation extended its operations to South by constructing Hotel Ashok in Bangalore. Indian Tourism Development Corporation also operates the famous Kovalam Beach Resort and Mahabalipuram’s Temple Bay Resort on Malabar Coasts. The Hassan Motel has increased the valuable traffic to the temples of Halebid and Belur.
In the East, Indian Tourism Development Corporation has set up an Airport Hotel in Kolkata, the first of its kind. In Patna, the Hotel Pataliputra provides a taste for pilgrimage tourism. The new forest lodge at Kaziranga in Assam strengthened the tourism infrastructure for wildlife.
The Indian Tourism Development Corporation has also strengthened many tourist circuits at Delhi, Agra, Khajuraho, and Varanasi. It has also entered the field of consultancy services to all the projects related to tourism by providing technical and professional knowledge.
Essay on Tourism in India – Tourism Information
To promote international tourism, India has adopted the strategy to give information which is authentic and accurate to the visitors by opening various tourist information centres. These information centres are being professionalised because the business of selling tourist products and services has not only enlarged its scope but also become very competitive.
These information centres offer brochures and publicity material to tourists which can be retained by the travellers. The information about the destinations is given on very reasonable terms.
The state and central governments both run the information centres. All the states have their own centres so that they can provide required information to the tourists. The ITDC is also a state owned national tourist information operator.
The Government of India, Department of Tourism, maintains a chain of tourist offices abroad also for providing required information to those tourists who intend to travel to India. These offices are important in maintaining a link between the host and guest. The government is also operating “promotional offices” in Osaka (Japan) and Dallas, Miami, San Francisco and Washington D.C.
Essay on Tourism in India – Indian Destinations Prominently Emerging on the International Map
Recently certain Indian destinations have prominently attracted attention of the international tourists. These destinations are located in the states of Goa and Rajasthan.
A brief description of these destinations is offered in following explanation:
1. Goa:
It is a small port city which projects the life sample of the Portuguese culture. It grew to its present size and splendor because of the assimilation of various ideas of the Britishers, Dutch and the French. There are many huge churches, monasteries and convents in Goa. The capital of Goa is Panaji. Goa has enjoyed a prominent place in the traveller’s diary for many years. Government has taken the opportunity to promote this place in a big way.
The efforts have crystallised and Goa has become one of the most famous destinations on the international map. The foreigners are attracted on account of the availability of sun, sand, sea. The government is cashing on the gleaming white washed churches with Portuguese style facades, the rich pappayas and the dense palm grooves.
The market of Goa is lively and colourful. The Churches and buildings add to the glamour of the streets blessed by the natural harbours and wide rivers, Goa was the ideal base for seafaring.
The tourism has become the basic industry of Goa and the local inhabitants get impressive income from all these natural gifts bestowed by God. The tourism related issue which got attention of the press is Nudism in Goa. The Goa beaches are crowded with the nude and semi-nude western bodies. For certain sections of the society it is not acceptable.
2. Rajasthan:
The Department of Tourism is making serious efforts to promote destinations of Rajasthan which are rich with deep traditions embodied thereto. It has also earned the attention of the international visitors because of the cities like Jaipur and Jaisalmer. Rajasthan is a land of kings, colours and traditions. The colourful turbans of the men and mirrored lehangas of the women are source of attraction to all the tourists.
The base of desert with all these dresses offers an oasis of magic and romance. Rajasthan has the historic city of Udaipur which combines water with earth and sky to create a paradise. Pushkar, the holy lake of Ajmer and the exotic sand of Jaisalmer resembles a fantasy.
Rajasthan has a beautiful souvenir industry having expensive diamonds, the marble stone, jewellery and the textile prints. The government’s impressive advertisements and brochures have added glory to its publicity on international front.
Essay on Tourism in India – Human Resource Development in India
Tourism has played a pivotal role in the economy of Indus Valley Civilisation and also become a rewardable industry of the modern era. It is the highest foreign exchange earner for the country. Though India is a large civilisation but it does not enjoys a favourable share of tourist arrivals to this country. The country with rich folk traditions in form of fairs, festivals, dances, customs, manners rituals is unable to attract a large number of international tourist traffic.
This is due to lack of attention to the task of developing human resource. In this context, it is proper to state that the finest infrastructure and the superstructure can fail if professionally trained staff is not available to manage the related activities. Therefore, in order to promote international tourism in an organised manner, India also has focused attention on related issues.
In 1986, on the recommendation of the Indian Planning Commission a National Committee on Tourism (NCT) was constituted under the chairmanship of Mohammad Yunus by the Government of India. It presented its report in 1988. The NCT examined in depth the issue of human resource development in the tourism sector.
It realised the need of training not only in the hotel sector but the other sectors also because otherwise the whole glamorous phenomenon of tourism can be haphazard leading to negative impacts.
Therefore the government aimed at introducing the education system to the grass root in the areas like ticketing, reservation, documentation, travel arrangements, tourism sales and publicity through vocationalisation in selected schools all over the country.
The Department to Tourism of the Indian Government is sponsoring various programmes in collaboration with internationally recognised organisations. The training is given to meet the latest needs of the tourism industry.
The Government is running five level of educational system in tourism management:
(a) One year duration job-oriented management programme, Diploma courses.
(b) 2 Years academic Management programmes, degree level programmes.
(c) Research work, doctorate level.
(d) One month duration reorientation programmes, certificate courses.
(e) One year duration distance education, correspondence courses.
Presently the universities running the Master Degree Courses in tourism are located at:
1. Srinagar Garhwal
2. Kurukshetra
3. Indore
4. Jodhpur
5. Aurangabad
6. Aligarh
7. Vellore
8. Bhubaneswar
9. Madurai
The pioneer institute in this field is the field of tourism is the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Government of India. It is conducting the carious surveys and research programmes for the tourism industry. It is also providing the study material for specific areas of adventure conference and pilgrimage tourism.
The material generally available gives the wide awareness of tourism industry. So IITTM is trying to be more specific and professional for tourism industry.
The government with the help of this institute is trying a frame a balanced tourism and travel management programme both for the diploma and Degree Level Students. It is trying to base the theory and practical papers on the behaviouristic pattern of the international and domestic tourists. It is also correlating it, with various segments of tourism industry through which the tourist has to obtain services during his journey and stay.
The teaching has to be accompanied by practical training in the field of tourism industry. The various public sectors are readily accepting the students for two months training so that they can be future efficient employees of this industry.
Essay on Tourism in India – Monuments Preservation for Growth of International Tourism
India is particularly proud of its artistic, archeological and historic treasure. It has a whole range of forts, palaces, temples and other monuments which have the cultural, historic and religious values. This priceless treasure has to be preserved. After the fall of British Empire, the government took various steps regarding exhibition and collection of sculptures paintings, epigraphs, coins, terracotta etc.
The first museum with aim of preservation was established in the year 1814 by Arabic society of Bengal. In 1854, Madras Literacy society established its museum. After this 25 museums were established between 1850 and 1900. In 1862, the Archeological Survey of India was established. Under this organisation many important decisions were taken.
In 1866 Indian Museum Act was passed. Since 1902, archeological devoting efforts for their preservation had been taken. Measures like cleaning jungles, starting repairs and renovations were taken up on large scale.
Essay on Tourism in India – India’s Effort to Promote Automation and Computerisation in the Travel Industry
The Indian government has realised the potential of computerisation in field of tourism and made all serious efforts to promote this industry in a more glamorous way. They use in-
1. Collection of information,
2. Processing of information, and
3. Transmission of information.
The whole travel industry has been computerised to quicker results like the-
1. Airlines,
2. Hotels,
3. Travel Agents, and
4. Railways etc.
The government has installed computers in airlines for the following uses:
1. To handle the reservation transaction,
2. To data link it, with other airlines,
3. To increase the information processing capacity,
4. To help in applications of departure, control and cargo.
5. To help in accounting, budgeting and planning,
6. To help ticket printing, and
7. To help in crew management etc.
The Hotel industry has also entered the glamorous era of efficiency and excellence.
The areas of applications where the public and private sector are using computers are:
1. Reservations,
2. Registrations,
3. Guest accounting, and
4. Communication operations.
The government has also computerised railways for faster reservations and easy verifications.
Essay on Tourism in India – India Promoting Tourism with the Help of PATA
India realized that PATA was one of the most active travel promotional organisation and country’s association with it will not only increase the tourist traffic but also expose it to modern techniques of tourism marketing and promotion.
India in 1978 was chosen as the venue of conference with the theme as “challenge of change,” because tourism was now entering the new markets. India was now exposed to new facilities to a large segment of tour operators, travel writers and airline executives.
“Then the PATA (India) chapter was organised in the year 1969 with Indian Tourism Development Corporation, India Airlines, Air India, various hotels and travel agencies etc. India is regularly participating in deliberations of international bodies so more new contacts are formed and this establishes an image.”