Boosting domestic Tourism in India..much closer than you think!

As elections heats up the already hot Indian summer, the Indian tourism industry taking cue, also logs on to the Atma Nirbhar vehicle!?

The big fat Indian wedding razzmatazz has already taken cue from the Prime Minister’s call to shift destination-weddings in India. The scale and spectacle of the recent Ambani wedding just proved that. With another International inbound season seeing marginal increases, domestic travel sure saved the day for the Indian hotels, with booming rates. Destination weddings in India have also pushed hotel rates to a new high, which the Indian Inbound players now find themselves to be the preliminary collateral damage!

And then the Prime Minister’s trip of the pristine turquoise blue waters of Lakshadweep happened. I cannot think of a tourism related geo-political messaging ever in the history of Independent India. Over 1300 islands languidly languishing around India’s 7000 kilometres of coastline, found itself in a very happy touristic position. But without necessary infrastructure to leverage these magnificent islands for its tourism prowess, it will remain in the forever ‘potential’ category!?

Why Now? With the rise of hotel inventory across sectors and having successfully outpriced ourselves in the international markets, India has handed over our 'bread and butter' market to our Asian rivals on a silver platter!?

With a relatively high taxation rate in form of GST of 18% imposed on rooms over Rs. 7500 in an inane attempt to beat some sort of record, Govt. of India has taken extreme pains to shoot itself in the foot. In an era, when the Indian foreign exchange was miniscule, India Tourism has always had a favourite son with the long-haul foreign tourist bringing in the much-needed dollar. But in the changing scenario, where the reserves are more than USD 600 Billion and inbound arrivals on status quo, the timing to woo the domestic desi traveller has never been good.?

With the Prime Minister happening to remind people to travel within India, it is also a 'Shot in the Arm' to the domestic travel market. The segment is diverse, blessed with a world-record population of nearly 1.5 billion, all year round and ever so aspirational. The statistic on this varies from anything from 175 - 550 million travelling, of course, it is dependent on whom you ask!?

A growing, consumption-driven economy growing at a bustling 8.4% has created a large and increasingly affluent middle class. Additional interest in niche tourism sectors such as medical, wellness and adventure tourism has also contributed to this growth.? Increased smartphone and internet penetration have also contributed to an increased number of online bookings.?

Indian spending outside the country while traveling abroad has doubled in the past 10 years, from $7.5 billion in 2005 to nearly $16 billion in 2015 and is expected to touch over $ 25 billion by 2021 and to over $42 billion in 2024”.?

Way back in the early nineties, where when the properties were limited and the eagle-eyed foreign tourist looked as a manna from heaven to save India from spiralling imports; it was a prudent exercise to tap foreign exchange. With an economy now growing at a little over 8% and being on the fastest growing large economies of the world, India has sure come a long way.?

The domestic tourists are back with the vengeance. The era of fancy brochures, which sold packages and room nights, wherein the tariffs were quoted in Euros even for the hapless domestic traveller has ended. The ongoing economic slowdowns in India’s feeder markets of Europe and American markets and the saga of the high airline ticket costs have attributed significantly to a slowdown in Inbound travel in to India. The present geo-political situations with a war in Ukraine which does not seem to get over and now the terror attacks in Israel have further catalysed the downfall in travel to India.?

Globally, there have been several instances, where global marquis destinations have taken initiative to encourage domestic travel to get their citizens to spend their money within their borders. Some interesting marketing campaigns by such as the one by 'Tourism Australia', which created the 'No Leave, No Life' campaign to encourage workers to take their annual leave and see their country.

Australia have been brilliant in creating campaigns to capture the hearts of locals hoping more Aussies choosing to holiday in their own backyard. The promotion showed as statistics released by the latest National Visitor Survey released by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Govt. of Australia in 2019 showed the campaign resulted in Australians taking 109 million overnight trips around the country spending a record $75 billion, up 14 per cent on the previous year.?

New Zealand for instance still considers Domestic tourists as their mainstay and make up about two thirds of the tourism industry. Britain in 2016 at the onset of lower domestic tourism grown, started an innovative marketing program by inviting young Brits to ‘Join the World.' The campaign showcased Britain’s amazing moments, turning travel inspiration into advocacy, and stimulating additional domestic holidays and spend. The domestic Great Britain campaign launched was designed to reverse the trend and recover the UK’s ‘lost generation’ and get more young people to experience the amazing holidays on offer at home. The campaign was backed by a budget of 2.5 million Pound was run across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and dozens of billboards around the UK, two new hashtags, #lovegreatbritain and #loveUK, encouraged and enabled young British millennials to join the conversation. The activity had hoped to generate more than 1 million additional overnight stays and provide a further ￡80 million boost to the economy.?

India Tourism describes 'domestic tourism' as the “backbone” and shows off a figure of an estimated 561 million domestic tourist visits. With the rapid economic development taking place in the country and availability of greater disposable income combined with affordable holiday packages, tourism in India is increasing steadily. Domestic tourism acts as a key catalyst for furthering economic growth in view of its wide-ranging percolating benefits and multiple impacts in terms of employment generation across sectors.?

As economies around the world grapple with a slowdown in their economies, there is bound to be more effort to keep their citizens travelling within their borders. India will find it difficult to sell its wares abroad at least for the next couple of years, unless there is a change in their fortunes. We seldom have a strategy for the domestic travel market; it is always an afterthought or a kind of back-up market! Though India Tourism has recently come out with a scheme where in partial reimbursement of marketing expenses for hotels, travel agents and other stake holders is possible for those working in the domestic market, it needs to do more in terms of creating a long-term agenda and establish a full-time marketing body for domestic tourism, considering that has a user base of over 500 million.?

With every destination around the world, when the going gets tough, the tough goes domestic! India is probably still one of the few countries that is still obsessed at chasing finicky international arrivals! Despite probably being the world's biggest domestic travel market, it still receives a treatment meted out to second-class citizens.?

Mere sloganeering or having the Prime Minister having to push discerning travellers to travel within is not enough. We must sensitize state governments to reach out to markets within to have an impact! The attempt to reach out domestic markets is not a smooth highway though, but sure commands enough respect to reach out a market closest to hearts and proximity alike! As a wise one once said "Travelling in India is like flirting with life. It is like saying, 'I would stay and love you, but I have to go!” Safe Travel and deliver more stories for your clients!