The National Trust of India?

Hill Palace Museum : Kochi, Kerala

While in Kerala over the last few days of 2008, I happened to visit a couple of colonial heritage buildings. One was the Kanakakunnu palace in Trivandrum (easily one of the prettier buildings I have ever laid my eyes on – and, rumour has it, where my parents threw their post-marriage do) and the Hill Palace musuem in Kochi, both ancillary residences of the local royalty.

Unfortunately, in the tender, loving care of the Kerala government they look ravaged and completely uncared for. It is when one sees this sort of neglect that one realises how impotent our State is and equally, how impotent we are in not being able to get the State to do anything better. This is pretty much the same story of most of our architectural heritage across India, whether it is maintained by State governments or by the Archeological Survey of India.

Contrast this to the state of affairs in the UK. They have something called the National Trust which is a registered charity that takes care of both the Natural as well as Built-up heritage of that nation.

The first thing that strikes one about the National Trust is its motto – For ever, For everyone. It isnt a government bueraurcracy dedicated to ‘protection’ (have you noticed how all government departments and organisations always ‘protect’ something – which means you and I can get pretty nothing of any value from it. The idea seems to be to protect it from the citizens) . The National Trust is a charity with 3.5 million ordinary British Citizens as its members and over 50,000 volunteers. It seems to have grasped the simple principle that National Heritage belongs to all citizens and a well managed method of involving people in conservation through an enjoyable process of education & particpation is the best way to ‘protect’ heritage.

It is certain that our ASI and our bureaucrats in local governments will never be able to grasp such heretical nonsense. So, isnt it time for all of us to work towards our own National Trust – free from any politican or bureaucrat? Previous generations that occupied our land over the last 5500 years have contributed much to humanity. Allowing the remains of their contribution to be in a state of gradual decay is deeply irresponsible of us.

India’s biggest tourism promotion website

Have been wondering which website is doing most for marketing Indian tourism. So, I did a quick check of recent Alexa numbers (see chart above) for Incredible India (the official promotion website of India’s tourism ministry) and the sites of two of India’s premier tourism states, kerala Tourism and Rajasthan Tourism.

Surprisingly, the Kerala Tourism site gets more traffic than the Incredible India site, which is a bit for a shame for the Incredible India guys. Incredible India however did get a huge spike in traffic (a few months before the beginning of period I have taken this chart for) when had a massive ad campaign underway – obviously, they were not able to hold on to the audiences after the campaign got over, which seems a real pity.

And since I couldn’t resist it, I also compared these 3 sites wth HolidayIQ which at the moment also exclusively contains tourism information on India. HolidayIQ beat all these sites by a huge distance. Of course, this is a slightly unfair comparison, since HolidayIQ is not a tourism promotion site but a site for India’s domestic holiday-goers to plan vacations. Which, come of to think of it, is probably not very different from what these sites ought to be doing.

The Incredible Marketing of India

Singapore has a land area of about 693 sq kms. India has 3.3 million sq km, making us about 5000 times larger than Singapore. In the year 2007, Singapore got over 10 million inbound tourists while India got a little under 5 million foreign tourists, less than half of Singapore . Therefore, using simple arithmetic we are about 10,000 times more inefficient than Singapore in getting inbound tourists. I think that is about right.

What explains this extraordinary incompetence of our country in attracting foreign tourists?

I don’t know.

But a good first step is to provide people wanting to travel to India with some simple, easy to understand information. An obvious place to assess whether we are providing such information is on the national website of our tourism promotion agency (after all, the internet has become the primary & often the only source of information for foreigners). And so I did a tiny exercise to find out Visa information on the Incredible india website and compare it with the tourism promotion website of a high-performing tourism nation, Australia. Here is what I found.

The first para on the relevant page on Australia.com reads as follows:

Visa

You’ll need a visa to enter Australia. Tourist visas are valid for three months, but you can also apply for a longer-term stay. Find out more about the different visas and how to apply.

Contrast this with the opening para of the Visa page on Incredible India, which reads as follows:

Visa fees are non-refundable and subject to change without notice. The High Commission reserves the right on granting and deciding type/duration of visa irrespective of the fees tendered at the time of making application. Granting of Visa does not confer the right of entry to India and is subject to the discretion of the Immigration Authorities. Visa can be applied for in person or by post at the High Commission of India in London. Visa applications from persons not ordinarily residing in the UK or from people of Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Sri Lankan origin are considered only in the High Commission of India, London and Consulate General of India, Birmingham and their processing may take one week or in some cases much longer. Applicants not ordinarily resident in the UK and Sri Lankan nationals are required to complete an additional form. Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals have to file special visa application forms. In the following cases processing of applications will take longer: (a) British Nationals holding dual nationality or of other origin, (b) applicants not resident in the UK, (c) where clearance from India is mandatory, (d) visitors to restricted areas and (e) certain cases where documents may need to be verified. Visa Section will contact the applicant about the time of delivery for such passports. Please note that each application is examined individually and the time taken for issuing Visa will vary from case to case.

I don’t know about you, but I found the 34 words on the Aussie site made a lot of sense and invited me in to find out more. In contrast, the 237 words in the first para on Incredible India gives me the strong impression that I am not particularly welcome.

Why?

Who writes this stuff?

Stereotypes : the quintessential Indian Tourist, part I

Last week, Sidin Vadukut of Mint sent me a few questions on the “quintessential Indian tourist”, which made me think a bit – and attempt a post on it. (Incidentally, do watch out for his piece later this month on Mint Lounge)

First of all, Sidin’s questions:

Indians are obessed with a few destination nations ; US, Singapore and Hong Kong. Is this true? Why is this? Surely people are aware of more places to go to.

Beaches, amusement parks, resorts and mountains. Is that all the Indian tourist cares about? A recent Kuoni survey seemed to think so.

One of the great joys of going abroad is the food & drink. But do Indian travellers prefer to carry teplas and pickle instead? Are we greatly opposed to eating food abroad?

A recent Expedia survey indicated that Indian tourists were some of the rudest passengers abroad. Only after the French. Is this a true representation of reality? Are we really bad? Or are we just perceived to be so beacuse of language issues and an inherent fear of being ripped off?

Are we stingy travellers? Do we count every penny that leaves our pockets? Is that why some hoteliers are terrified of us?

These are some of the popular stereotypes of the Indian tourist. What is your take on them? Are we just misunderstood? Or is it the sad truth?

Since answering all the questions will result in me being awarded an M.Phil (a highly undesirable condition at my stage of life), let me try a general take on a single aspect : the Indian tourist stereotype.

So, here goes.

I actually think this is great news, Indian tourists getting stereotyped that is.

Microsites from Incredible India

The Incredible India website has a number of micro-sites. The idea is to showcase the best of various themes that define Indian tourism. So there are 18 micro-sites for subjects ranging from Ayurveda, Yoga, Summer Retreats, Central India, Walk with the Buddha etc. All fascinating subjects, each of which can be a brilliant site in itself. Unfortunately, all the energy seemed have gone into thinking up these themes. The sites themselves suffer from too little content, poor navigation and that continuing bane of Indian tourism, a gimmicky approach.

Here is what is shown for the entry relating to the Jewish religion in India (in the Pilgrimage micro-site). 3 tiny paragraphs, one each on Kochi, Pune & Ahmedabad. No photos at all. Of course, no videos. No real sense of history, time or context. I have personally stood inside the Jewish Synagogue at Kochi and marveled at the murals depicting the arrival of the first Jews at Cranganore (kodungalloor). Why can’t we make this stuff come alive.

Good idea, poor execution.

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Mind of the new traveller – dissecting the indian tourist

(Photo of the Taj Mahal, courtesy Incredible India)

There is a tourism doo-dah in Bangalore on Thursday and I have been invited to talk about the ‘Mind of the New Traveller’. Phew, that is a mouthful. Anyway, made me think. Over the last 3 years or so that I have been involved in creating India’s first travel community and getting a lot of feedback from them on HolidayIQ, I think I have got a pretty unique ringside view of the mind of the Indian tourist. Here, in a few short sentences, is the summary of what I see.