The Indian tourist is hot

Many foreign tourist boards are setting up shop

Everyone wants to capitalise on the 'feel-good factor' of the globe-trotting Indian.

With foreign travel high on many an Indian's itinerary, at least nine foreign tourism boards are scheduled to set up shop here by the year-end.

These include tourism boards from nations as disparate as Ireland, Austria, Russia, Brazil, Turkey and Italy, to Spain, France and China.

Foreign tourism boards of countries like Switzerland, Hong Kong (China), Thailand and Malayasia, which already have a presence in India, are beefing up their promotional activities to grab a larger slice of the growing Indian market. And international airlines are increasing their flights to and from the country.

Lufthansa, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Aeroflot, to name a few, have increased frequencies.

The rush of foreign tourism promotion boards to India is understandable. Last year, as many as 4.5 million Indians travelled abroad, industry operators said, adding that this was set to go up 15 per cent this year.

What is more, Indians tend to splurge abroad. According to a Singapore Tourism Board study, on a 3-4 day trip to the island nation, an Indian spends Singapore $1,574.

In comparison, the average spend of other foreign visitors is $639. This is because shopping and food are the main priorities for Indians. Americans, on the other hand, will rather see the sights.

Travel agents said with destinations like Switzerland, Malayasia and Thailand getting saturated, Indian tourists were looking for new holiday destinations. "There is a big demand for new destinations," said a leading Mumbai-based travel agent.

"India and China have emerged as the two prime markets in Asia with forecasts that in the near future, one-third of the world's tourists will be from Asia. This is the right time to set up base in India," said Jim Paul, director, new and developing markets, Tourism Ireland.

Balbir Mayal, president of the Travel Agents' Association of India, the apex body of travel agents across the country, added: "Tourism is directly linked with the economic growth of a country. With the per capita income going up, travel is gradually making a firmer place in the priority list of Indians."

The country's gross domestic product is expected to grow 8.1 per cent in 2003-04, up from 4.3 per cent in 2002-03.

"Visitors from India continue to surge. There was a 19.3 per cent growth in Indian traffic to Hong Kong in December 2003, compared with December 2002," David Leung, regional director, South and Southeast Asia, Hong Kong Tourism Board, said.

Last week, the Switzerland Tourism Board launched roadshows in Bangalore, Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.

"India is one of the fastest growing markets in Asia and it is on our priority list," said an executive associated with Swiss tourism promotion in India.

Foreign tourism boards are, in fact, directly competing with Indian state tourism boards. With countries like Thailand and Malaysia offering holiday packages comparable with a trip to Kerala or other destinations in India, foreign tourism boards have been successful in making their presence felt.