Event Round Up

A niche in the making

The Indian monsoon has made each stakeholder in the tourism industry think about placing it as a significant product. It is also an attempt at filling a holiday slot that has generally remained vacant. The recently held Monsoon Tourism Conference organised by the Ministry of Tourism evoked different reactions. By Anupama Sushil

Monsoon tourism is an attempt at promoting India as an all-weather destination. Apart from the regular tourist inflow, the monsoon period will attract additional numbers. Speaking at the recent Monsoon Tourism conference held in New Delhi, M P Bezabaruah, director (Administration Staff), College of India and former secretary tourism, Government of India, said that imagination can do wonders to tourism - it can be used to package tourism innovatively. He added that according to the World Tourism Organisation, people are constantly looking for newer experiences, products and services. "When India is looking at a product that can help bring in tourists in the lean period, attractive packaging becomes crucial," said Bezabaruah.

The states will undoubtedly play a crucial role in taking this concept further. The three months from June to September, also crucial in domestic tourism, should be ideally used for joint promotions by the state governments and the tour operator. While the product can't be just sold by itself, it will have to be combined with different themes like ayurveda, music festivals, art camps and honeymoons. It was announced by joint secretary of tourism, Government of India, Leena Nandan, that all monsoon tourism packages will be marketed by the Centre. The markets identified for this are Eastern Europe, East Asia, Scandinavian countries and Australasia.

While the concept sounds attractive, sustainability will remain an issue. One of the main reasons is marketing, said Ashish Gupta, director and chief skills facilitator, Dimensional Learnings. He elaborated that there has to be a market-specific strategy, product wise, in competitiveness and in attitude. There was an urgent need to shift from general marketing to specific marketing after observing the buying matters. The entire market has to be understood, added Gupta and explained that the product developed or the destination should be able to generate interest and retain it, offer integrated infrastructure making the experience smooth from end to end and generate sustainable ideas for its long-term existence. All the stakeholders should have a common goal, a shared vision only then would any new product be successful.

Disagreeing with the entire concept of the product in relevance to the foreign market, Himmat Anand, founder, Tree of Life Resort & Spa, said that many products are created but soon forgotten. At this stage, what India needs is focus on single points of excellence instead of hitting in all directions. "Monsoon tourism being sold in the domestic market makes sense as Indians are used to the phenomenon, but internationally the concept will not really be received well as international tourists consider rains as an element that spoils the holiday. So why is the Ministry of Tourism looking at promoting the product in the European market when it suits more for the Indian market?" he

questioned. States like Kerala are equipped with infrastructure to handle such a product but some others are not. Madhya Pradesh plans to promote Bhopal under this segment along with Mandu, Panchmarhi and a few other sites. Goa remains the most competitive choice for all international and domestic tourists. Others like Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim are also looking at it as a profitable segment. Only time and the level of development of the product will decide its future.