The China Effect: How to unleash the Indian tourism industry?
The tourism industry anchors on five main aspects:
- Attraction: What places will I visit on my trip? How significant are they? For e.g., India — Taj Mahal, France — Eiffel Tower, Egypt — Pyramids, New York — Statue of Liberty.
- Accessibility: Do I have connectivity? How much time do I lose in transit? For e.g., Singapore benefits greatly from being a large transit hub. Great connectivity as well as great attractions!
- Accommodation: Am I getting to stay in a safe environment? Am I getting my money’s worth? For e.g., People who take up overseas travel wouldn’t mind spending that additional INR 2000 — 3000 to ensure the accommodation is located at a safe place in the city center.
- Amenities: Do I have some special treatment at my accommodation? Do I have a spa or sauna or a private beach? For e.g., Palm Atlantis in Dubai provides a premium stay experience known worldwide.
- Activities: What experiences can I take back home? What memories can I create here? For e.g., Skydiving in Switzerland, Eating Sushi in Japan, and Scuba Diving at the Great Barrier Reef.
Considering all these, there is one additional aspect that I think creates the most impact — PROXIMITY TO ECONOMIC CENTERS
Case of Mexico
The United States of America is the world’s largest economy with a large population having significant disposable income that they can spend on travel. Who does this benefit? Countries that share close proximity to the US, mainly Mexico as you can see from the report below. While countries like the Philippines or Indonesia may be better destinations than Mexico, but lose out on the proximity aspect.
You can pick your friends but can’t choose your neighbors! — Atal Bihari Vajpayee
How is India positioned?
The US, UK, Canada, Australia, and other European Countries form a major chunk of foreign tourist arrivals (Bangladeshis mainly visit for work purposes). For comparison, number of US tourists to Mexico was 31 million compared to 1.5 million to India. Despite being a long journey for tourists from the US, more people are keen to come to India. However, what gap do we see? Chinese Tourists!
How massive is the impact of the Chinese?
China is the second largest economy in the world and the Chinese spend massively on outbound travel. Countries like Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Vietnam benefit greatly from Chinese tourists. COVID had its impact but China has opened up outbound travel since January 2023 and it has been welcomed by all these destinations.
Chinese Tourists can be a treasure trove that the India Tourism Industry hasn’t mined yet! But what is the problem?
Why aren’t the Chinese visiting India?
- Connectivity: THERE IS NO DIRECT FLIGHT BETWEEN INDIA AND CHINA. Chinese tourists will have to travel through transit hubs like Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, or Bangkok to arrive in India. These transit hubs lack connectivity with important tourist hubs like Goa which is a concern. Adding another transit within India.
- Visa Ambiguity: Issuance of Tourist Visas is often weaponized in times of disagreement between the two countries.
In comparison, let’s see what Thailand is doing in this regard. Thailand has waived visa requirements for Chinese citizens between September 29, 2023 to February 29, 2024, keeping the holiday season in mind.
3. Trust: Chinese spies are a concern for India and therefore, allowing them to come into the country with Tourist Visas adds to the numerous other problems that we face with our neighbors.
4. Language Barriers: Communication becomes a challenge for Chinese visiting the country while other countries are facilitating this easily by putting up kiosks and tourist information desks to cater to all kinds of tourists.
Bottom line: We are sitting on a gold mine with respect to Chinese Tourists being in our vicinity and having massive spending power, however, we are losing out on this opportunity because there are no systems in place to facilitate their arrival in the country. We could introduce more robust background checks to issue visas and mitigate the risk of Chinese spies. America allows a lot of Russians into the country without raising any concerns and somehow India should be able to take advantage of the wonderful tourism it has to offer at an affordable price.
