Zoltan Somogyi, Executive Director, UNWTO lauded the growth of Asian countries’ in the global tourism scenario while addressing the attendees at the recently concluded World Tourism Conference in Melaka, Malaysia. Speaking exclusively with T3 on the sidelines of the inauguration, Somogyi called India one of the most important partners of UNWTO.
“Last year, there was a huge increase in international arrivals and tourist receipts. India is one of the shining stars of the Asian continent. I totally agree with India’s grand promotion ‘Incredible India’ because it’s really so rich and diverse that it has immense opportunity for tourism. Also, with a lot of efforts in the recent years by tourism authorities, both from public and private sector, has made it one of the most effective countries for tourism in the future,” he opined.
When asked about the impact of the Rupee depreciation on tourism, he revealed that, in the last eight months, while expenditure on outbound travel has dwindled, inbound has witnessed a 4 per cent growth. “Our statistics reflected less outbound and more inbound tourism for India, which is great for balance in the industry, but not good for global tourism. I would prefer to have more Indians travelling out,” he added.
Somogyi stated that the UNWTO statistics show one billion tourists travelling globally, and five billion travelling domestically across the world. “That means, domestic is definitely growing faster than the inbound and outbound. For India in particular, the subcontinent’s domestic tourism is far more important for the economy and tourism industry. It is a very important business. In fact, I would say it is a test for international tourist arrivals because, when there is healthy domestic travel, levels of service and value chains constantly improve to meet demands. It means a better standard is followed by the time the foreign tourist comes in,” he said.
Commenting on the aviation sector that has been plaguing India’s tourism industry, Somogyi revealed that UNWTO recorded three valid points in tourism, the first being travel facilitation – how to make travel easier for people, such as introducing less cumbersome visa policies. Second, a good taxation policy – how the government can support the tourism private stakeholders, enabling them to enjoy more money back? The third, he said, was air connectivity.
“Today, 51 per cent of the tourists are travelling by air, and there are some parts of the world which are not well connected. And India is a crucial point. It is a vast country and you need a good inbound connectivity system. This year we had the General Commission meetings in Hyderabad, following which I flew a low cost carrier to Kochi, and I must say it was very good. You have to take care of how to encourage the carriers to adapt a more developed system for better connectivity,” he opined.
He also commended India’s marketing initiatives and opined the ‘Incredible India’ campaign ‘excellent’. “There is nothing more to be added. However, whenever there are new products or campaigns coming up, you have to share it with the world so they are aware of it. I know India is now present at most of the tourism fairs such as WTM, ITB and so on, and this is the job – to make a clearer promotion, and find the potential buyers, using these fairs and updated and modern technology,” he suggested.
