Incredible India – A Quality Perspective

According to the World Travel and Tourism council report tourism Industry in India is going to be a big hit in the times to come having the highest 10 year growth potential. Tourists from different countries are coming here attracted by the plethora of low cost destinations as well as the luxury destination India offers. Recently, in the 18th World Travel Awards held in London, India won the prestigious ‘Best Destination’ and ‘Best Marketing Campaign’.
Tourism in India contributes 6.23% to the overall national GDP. With a huge educated population in hand India will require to develop the required talent to cater to the industry. A number of movements have been in the limelight for sometime like the “Incredible India project”, “Atithi Devo Bhava”, for promotion of Indian tourism sector to the world audience. Considering the growing share of India in the global tourist destination map, it is very important for India to sustain the growth. Quality is absolutely central to all of this.
The availability and implementation of classification systems in the industry along with an accreditation agency is one aspect which is of importance in developing quality of tourism. It will provide a step by step process that will assist local, national or regional hotel associations and tourism administrations effectively to produce a graduated rating system. One example of classification system is the STAR rating implemented in different forms across the globe. This will provide structured information regarding the quality of tourism facilities and services in order to help the tourist to make “best” decisions, and get assurance that they will receive value for money. It will also build up image of the destination, act as a marketing platform and improve networking. Classification system thus will act as a benchmarking tool as well as a control technique to measure quality, paving the way for sustainable tourism.
Sustainability tourism refers to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability. It should make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism development. Tourism should have respect for the host communities and ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed. It should develop stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
Safety and security of tourists are the major concerns from the point of view of tourism development and the national pride. The Government should enact suitable legislation on travel trade and tourist police for protection and security of tourists. An institutional mechanism is to be developed to deal with complaints received from tourists and the industry so as to create a better sense of security amongst actual and potential visitors.
To promote the destinations a large investment is required in this sector and maintaining high quality standards in services, hotels and tourism related industries will continue to be in the priority list of industries for foreign investment. For this the Government should extend export-house status to eligible Hotels, Travel Agents, Tour Operators and Tourist Transport Operators.
There should be increasing use of e-commerce/m-commerce and internet for dissemination of tourism related information. The development of Handy Audio Reach Kit (HARK) Tourist Guidance System at important monuments and heritage sites is a significant step in this area.
Only a few states in India are able to capitalize the opportunity of tapping the global tourism industry and demand for new quality destinations. There is a need for inclusion of all the regions of India in the global tourism circuit. Places like the North East, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Central India which are still unexplored and remain at a nascent stage.
A joint and consolidated effort by both the government and the private sector can bring about massive change in the situation. The need of the hour is to utilize the huge demographic dividend by training and educating the youth, with more employment generation opportunities and innovative solutions for catering to the ever changing and lucrative travel industry securing India’s place at the Most Favoured Tourist Destination for times to come.