Strategy

Skiing on different slopes

Indian tourism is now smartening up to cater to more tourists with better facilities, more investments and clever promotional packages.

With the recent positive trend seen in the tourism industry in India, everyone is scrambling to cash in on it. And the latest to join this is pioneer carmaker Henry Ford's great-grandson Alfred Ford with his announcement to set up a US$ 500 million ski resort in Himachal Pradesh.

The first phase of this project will have a 250-room hotel, ski lift and other facilities up and running within three years. When completed, the plan provides for 700 five-star hotel rooms, 300 villas, 150 condos, shops, restaurants and spas, making the Himalayan Ski Village the first of this size in India.

Plethora of options

Skiing is just one of the recreational activities opening up for tourists in India. Apart from the usual Taj Mahal and Goa beach attractions, other options such as adventure tourism, eco-tourism and even medical tourism are finding more takers. Besides Ford's ski resort, tourists can find rock-climbing in Courtallam, eco-tourism in Thenmalai and heli-skiing near Manali.

The tourism ministry quotes sources such as Chicago-based iExplore.com (affiliated with the National Geographic and Forbes adventure travel sites) that rated India as fifth among its top 10 destinations for 2004, up from 36th position in 2003. Even the World Travel & Tourism Council states that India will emerge as the second-fastest growing tourism economy globally between 2005 and 2014, followed by China. Successful promotions such as the ministry's 'Incredible India' multimedia campaign and the budget air travel boom are reckoned to have contributed to the tourism gold rush.

The tourism ministry, headed by firebrand politician Renuka Chowdhury, is eagerly pitching in a US $48 million advertising campaign for 2005-06. Its website includes a 20-page safety guideline for adventure sports operations - from mountain biking and bungee jumping to parasailing. Yet, given India's diversity and culture, other ideas to exploit the potential are still in short supply.

Arrivals go up too

Numbers support investments such as Ford's. Despite being visited by major disasters such as the December 26 tsunami, India enjoyed a record 3.37 million foreign tourist arrivals last year and 367 million domestic travellers, contributing US $4.8 billion in earnings - 4.47 per cent of GDP.

Leading industry professionals reckon the numbers are only the tip of a potential iceberg. Tourism had a 24 per cent growth in 2004, a leap from 14 per cent growth a year earlier, posting impressive gains despite a dip in tourist arrivals in the rest of the world. Arrivals from Europe and Asia Pacific headed the list.

Terrorism-troubled Jammu and Kashmir has also enjoyed a boom since India and Pakistan brokered a shaky peace two years ago. The state's tourism ministry told the media that the earthquake that rocked Pakistan recently, killing about 90,000, did not affect popular tourist spots.

A senior official said tourism arrivals there increased by 90 per cent in the past 24 months, with 4,00,000 domestic tourists this year, compared to 2,25,000 last year. The figure is expected to pass half a million by March 2006, with winter tourists coming from Southeast Asian countries like Singapore and Malaysia. The winter snow and a ride on the famous houseboats in summer are big draws for the area.

Expanding disposable incomes

India's increased number of wealthy is also helping drive this tourism surge. A National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER) survey says the number of millionaires in rural India is increasing. The number of Indian households with an annual income equivalent to US $2,26,449 has grown by 26 per cent since 1995-96 to almost nearly 20,000 in 2001-02, the report says. By 2005-06, the number is expected to more than double and reach 1,40,000 by 2010.

The India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), a Ministry of Commerce and Industry initiative to promote the India brand, said, "With the economy growing at the pace it is, the consumption story has been hitting the roof. Driven by a young population with access to disposable incomes and easy finance options, the consumer market has been throwing up mind-boggling figures."

Promotion with tie-ups

Tourism operators now sell heli-skiing packages for the Himalayan regions of Gulmarg, Hanuman Tibba, Rohtang Pass, Deo Tibba and Chanderkhani Pass near Manali, where skiers are flown by helicopter to slopes 14,000 feet high.

Eco-tourism, growing globally at five per cent, is ranked by the World Tourism Organisation as the fastest-growing segment in the global tourism industry. Thomas Cook, offering 13 holiday packages to India costing from US $560 to US $1,560, sells an eco-tourism tour of tribes in the eastern state of Orissa starting at US $1,300. But surprisingly, India does not yet have an eco-tourism society like other Asian countries of Thailand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Medical tourism is another sector enjoying good times, and it is expected to be worth US $2.3 billion by 2012, according to a McKinsey consulting report.