Globally, tourism is growing exponentially but we are still busy sorting out basic issues of infrastructure. lack of synergy between stakeholders needs to be addressed
The Indian tourism sector seems to be one with full of contradictions. Inspite of its vast heritage, culture and history, we are still under-achievers in many areas, as compared to our true potential.
While globally, tourism is growing in leaps and bounds, we are still busy sorting out basic infrastructural issues, systemic neglect, callousness and addressing lack of synergies among various players.
It turns out to be a story one of humongous potential and a wasted opportunity both at the same time. We just can’t seem to get our act together. Even smaller countries have demonstrated much more unified vision and are fully harnessing the potential and reaping economic benefits and creating millions of jobs for their country. Inspite of the best efforts, lot more needs to be done. We simply cannot be dragging our feet.
low hanging fruit
Tourism is a low hanging fruit. If developed with a unified vision and customer-centric approach, it has the potential to generate large scale employment in both urban and rural areas. India is a blessed country with heritage, natural bounties, scenic beauty and a rich composite cultural kaleidoscope like no other. In fact, India is a continent often pretending as a country!
By any comparison if India’s tourism sector gets its priorities right and fast enough, it can sure give other countries run for their money. The potential is huge and India is punching well below its weight.
Professionalism
It is erroneous to assume that India’s Tourism sector problem are more brick and mortar and due to lack of capital. Add a dozen five-star hotels, spas and resorts we are good to go, is a wrong notion.
Often overlooked and detrimental is the problem of the unorganised tourism departments, it’s untrained, ill equipped, inarticulate, unaccountable officials and synergy less private sector professionals and operators. Tourism sector often doesn’t attract talent pool. Most often it is also a vocation of the last resorts of sorts.
Unfortunately, Tourism board officials who have event-organiser mentality and their staff cannot care less for the results, and worse still the lower rung employees, the actual frontline individuals, have no training what so ever and entirely non-indulgent in their jobs.
The sector is in dire need of professionalisation across all levels. It needs high caliber, well-groomed and trained personnel who can serve the tourists with charm, refinement and sincerity. It needs planners who can create immersive and engaging travel experiences for both visiting from within India and abroad.
I heard from a foreign journalist attending a large tourism MICE related event that he would avoid visit to India to cover any future events. It so happened, that the accommodation provided to him was shoddy, filthy and empty wrappers and match sticks conveniently brushed under the bed by the cleaning staff.
Here was the glimpse of atithiti devo bahava treatment meted out by the officials who invite foreign delegates and journalists to cover the event at the tax payers cost and yet such callous attitudes are displayed where basic courtesies like a decent room and amenities are not taken care of in turn distracting the journalist’s good intents of covering the event positively. An opportunity wasted!
An orientation and skill upgrade for the staff in the principles of Services industry, cross-cultural communication competencies, soft skills and a culture of accountability is required across several levels of tourism boards. This sector requires a completely different mindset.
Seamless, stress-free and end-to-end services that cater to ‘every segment’ and strata of the tourist population and consistent service quality at every single touch-point in the journey of the traveler is the need of the hour.
Us and them
Comparisons are inevitable. To resurrect Tourism in our country we only need to contrast this with other neighboring countries much smaller in size, such as Singapore- which was once upon a time a tiny island in the backwaters, today it is a shining example of futuristic vision, and world-class financial and tourism hub. The airport infrastructure in unparalleled and a global bench mark which the entire world wants to emulate. Similarly, Malaysia has carved a niche for itself with its excellent infrastructure to promote tourism. Ditto, for a young country like New Zealand which has created seamless tourism infrastructure that acts as a backbone, coupled with well-trained personnel providing exemplary service and advisory, often leaving the travelers enchanted forever.
National platform
To start with, Indian tourism sector should start investing in creating a national platform for booking the entire itinerary including stay, transport options and services available from a single window anywhere in the country. Empanel the service providers at national, State and local level and license them to operate from the booking engine and load their inventories and create a revenue stream by charging a commission fee from them to pay for the salaries of the staff who will be manning the counters and are well trained to act as promoters, advisers, planners and travel agents and help the tourist book their entire itinerary. The booking can be availed from any of these agents manning Tourism Information Center (let’s call it “Incredible India Centers”) across the length and breadth of the tourism map of the country.
This requires these centers to be equipped with high calibre manpower with superior soft skills, a service driven mindset, excellent internet connectivity and located at some very easily accessible locations at points of boarding or departures or at other ports.
These Government authorised tourism ‘shops’ would be decked with high-quality communication material such as brochures, high production quality films and to say the least a comforting ambiance and high spirited and cheerful staff who will assist the visitor and walk them through the entire planning, booking process as per their budgets and preferences.
This will ensure you provide be it a domestic or foreign tourist a one-stop shop authentic solutions with 100 per cent reliability and assurance of services booked through Government supported website and affiliates with ease of changing the itinerary at any given point or location across the country.
It would be in the interest of the business affiliates to act right and prevent any unpleasant experience for the guests. A user review and feedback mechanism at the end of each transaction will strengthen the service orientation further.
This writer had a first-hand experience while travelling through New Zealand on the excellent national grid and platform created for inventory management for travel, stay and services and accessible at multiple touch points and bring service providers all under one roof irrespective of their business size or location all at a click of a button. The personnel who manned these desks were par excellent.
(To be continued in these columns on October 24.)
(The writer is a media and communications professional.)
