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Is 'Incredible India' glossing over 'ugly realities'?
Is India's glossy tourism promotion campaign masking some ugly realities? Is the 'Incredible India' campaign in danger of becoming an 'Incredulous India'?
Malaysian tour operators, who spoke to some visiting Indian journalists, would tend to think so after feedback from their clients whom they sent to India in recent years.
"Most tourists returning from India tell us that they have been misled. Often, the complaint is about dirty tourist sites, which are far removed from what is usually depicted in official brochures," said a senior executive of a leading travel agency in Kuala Lumpur.
A case in point: 'Incredible India' brochures depict crystal clear blue water gushing past the Taj Mahal, the 17th century marble monument in Agra.
"All we saw was filthy river (Yamuna) water stagnated behind the monument," said Mohammed Hashim, who visited India last year along with his family.
He also recalled being hounded by beggars and aggressive vendors and fleeced by uncouth taxi drivers while visiting Ooty in Tamil Nadu. "We went there to travel by the steam engine-hauled train," Hashim explained.
"Why do people travel? They travel to fulfil their dreams and to look for serenity," he said.
Said Cindy Lim, director (international promotion division) of Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board (MTPB):
"It is okay to mix dreams (read lies) with reality sometimes. But they should not be disproportionate," Lim told the agency.
A senior executive of a leading travel agency in Kuala Lumpur said Malaysians, who have returned from India, have complained that New Delhi's promotional literature puts a gloss on some ugly ground realities of the country.
In the process, the campaign may end up putting off repeat visitors.
Though foreign tourist arrivals in India have risen over 17 per cent since the launch of the 'Incredible India' campaign in 2003, travel operators in Kuala Lumpur feel that New Delhi has a difficult task of ensuring tourist loyalty.
"Building and maintaining credibility is fundamental in tourism promotion," says a market research undertaken by World Tourism Organisation, a UN body.
The research pointed out how Bahamas was criticised in the international media for using photographs in its advertising that were taken in Hawaii, the Seychelles and Florida.
Though all photos for the 'Incredible India' campaign were shot in India, "there is a gross misrepresentation of reality", an agent of a prominent Indian travel house in Kuala Lumpur said.
"Last year, more than 172,000 Indians visited Malaysia. The majority feedback we got from them was that they were able to see all of what was shown in the 'Malaysia Truly Asia' ad campaign," he noted.
Since its launch in 1999, Malaysia Truly Asia campaign has helped almost triple tourist inflow into this Southeast Asian country.
"We had just 5.5 million tourists visiting our country in 1998. In 2004, there were over 15.7 million tourists," MTPB director Lim pointed out -- a whopping figure for a nation of a little over 22 million.
On the other hand, the Indian ad campaign has only helped marginally increase tourist arrival from 2.72 million in 2003 to 3.36 million in 2004. In contrast, foreign tourist inflow in Malaysia had nearly doubled within two years of Malaysia Truly Asia campaign's launch.
The Malaysian Tourism Promotion Board is already concentrating on moving forward with the campaign, which would target the repeat visitor, besides the special visitor.
"There is so much more to Malaysia than our cities. We want to promote nature package and get our visitors to stay back for longer durations," Lim said.
Another executive with a tourist firm run by a person of Indian origin had this piece of advice: "India should first set its house in order before showcasing itself as an incredible destination. Otherwise, it will simply end up being an incredulous place to visit."
Kuala Lumpur 04/04/2005
