Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

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Neshant
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Neshant »

Guy from Singapore and his friends went to Andhra Pradesh and did a bunch of drawings/sketches on the fly.
He returned to Singapore and his sketches are exhibited in an art show.

Pretty good stuff, take a look.
All of his sketches were drawn on the spot as he traveled around.

Leave him some good comments on his work.
Check out his other works too.

Hell Singapore is doing a better job of promoting India than Indian babus ever will.




His sketches are here :

Singha
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Singha »

Kerala's Kochi airport extended its suspension of all flight operations till Saturday afternoon after its runway and parking area got flooded. Train services have also been affected, with many trains being delayed and cancelled
Sachin
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Sachin »

Singha wrote:Kerala's Kochi airport extended its suspension of all flight operations till Saturday afternoon after its runway and parking area got flooded. Train services have also been affected, with many trains being delayed and cancelled
CIAL should be operational from today (29th) afternoon hours.
Paul
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Paul »

Trip to Bali: My Balinese Hindu Taxi driver told me Hindus can be found as far east as Papua province...next to Papua New guinea.
Rishirishi
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Re: Indian Economy News & Discussion - Nov 27 2017

Post by Rishirishi »

Indias huge domestic tourism potential. Indians spent 23 billion dollars on holidays abroad. :shock: I think a lot more people would choose to holiday in India, if we had better infrastructure in place. Better hotels (at fair price), area development, accessibility etc.

India is also very expensive. Someone spend Rs 300K on a 4 day visit (4 people) to Ladhak from Mumbai. A 12 days trip for 4 people to Italy, including, apartments, inland travel in Italy, Visa, car hire and fuel, cost 350K (Most Indians will pay more).

If GOI spent some 10-15 billion dollars to develop select 3-4 Singapore like destinations
Indian outbound tourists will account for 22.5 million worldwide tourists in 2018, with reports from the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) estimating this figure will increase by 122 per cent to reach over 50 million by 2022. The ATM is scheduled to take place here from April 28 -May 1, 2019.

Adding to this, Indian tourists are among the world’s highest spenders per visit made abroad, with visitor spend expected to increase from USD 23 billion in 2018 to USD 45 billion by 2022.


https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-ne ... BWwiJ.html
jpremnath
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by jpremnath »

The outbound volume will only go up...There are Thailand tour packages which are going at 15k per head..its so enticing that even clerks in govt jobs are going for it..There is no destination in India which can compete with that kind of cost. The hotel and tour operators within India (especially Kerala) should get a reality check on the prices they quote for the kind of experience and services they offer.
Also, we need to clean up our cities and destinations big time...they are too filthy and poorly maintained to entice anyone. The rest of the world is moving forward by getting their act together... high time we do too.
Kashi
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Kashi »

jpremnath wrote:Also, we need to clean up our cities and destinations big time...they are too filthy and poorly maintained to entice anyone. The rest of the world is moving forward by getting their act together... high time we do too.
This is our biggest problem, many of our tourist spots are filthy, disorganised and chaotic with poorly maintained signage and not to mention crawling with touts and conmen (and women) of all kinds.

Appallingly, even the locals who depend on tourists for their livelihood (and would benefit the most from higher tourist inflows), are apathetic to the state of things around them and are even less interested than the government agencies in changing things for better.

Then there's the problem of poor public transport and accessibility for many of the promising tourist spots. Tourism in India is condemned to stagnate for the foreseeable future and as long as agencies like ITDC/ASI are in charge, it would be foolish to hope for substantive improvements.

Having said that, the sorry state of our tourist sector is a reflection of our society as whole.
nandakumar
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by nandakumar »

Kashi wrote:
jpremnath wrote:Also, we need to clean up our cities and destinations big time...they are too filthy and poorly maintained to entice anyone. The rest of the world is moving forward by getting their act together... high time we do too.
This is our biggest problem, many of our tourist spots are filthy, disorganised and chaotic with poorly maintained signage and not to mention crawling with touts and conmen (and women) of all kinds.

Appallingly, even the locals who depend on tourists for their livelihood (and would benefit the most from higher tourist inflows), are apathetic to the state of things around them and are even less interested than the government agencies in changing things for better.

Then there's the problem of poor public transport and accessibility for many of the promising tourist spots. Tourism in India is condemned to stagnate for the foreseeable future and as long as agencies like ITDC/ASI are in charge, it would be foolish to hope for substantive improvements.

Having said that, the sorry state of our tourist sector is a reflection of our society as whole.
There is no doubt some mispricing (on the higher side, no doubt) but against that must be set another fact. In India land cost is very high. We simply have too many people for a unit of land and that pushes up price. On top of it new supply of accommodation in hilly/mountainous regions or coastal regions suffer from onerous and some say, impossible environmental regulations. Skirting it involves greasing of palms adding further to the costs. Add to that the taxation provincial and State level,s a vicious cycle. takes the operating costs even further. It i
Kashi
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Kashi »

nandakumar wrote:There is no doubt some mispricing (on the higher side, no doubt) but against that must be set another fact. In India land cost is very high. We simply have too many people for a unit of land and that pushes up price. On top of it new supply of accommodation in hilly/mountainous regions or coastal regions suffer from onerous and some say, impossible environmental regulations. Skirting it involves greasing of palms adding further to the costs. Add to that the taxation provincial and State level,s a vicious cycle. takes the operating costs even further. It i
It's not just mispricing, it's the (often abysmal) services that one gets in return for those exorbitant prices that is a bigger problem. A lot of tourists are put off by the practices (price gouging, fleecing, hounding, heckling etc.) that are far too common in our tourist zones. Fundamentally, much of India is NOT a tourist friendly country, so a lot of tourists (domestic and foreign) speak with their wallet and give it miss.

Governments themselves are limited in what they can do, because most of the careerists in tourism department lack ambition and/or ideas on how to improve the tourist landscape, many of them know or care little for the history of the tourist spots they are supposed to be developing.

Also, a huge problem for the tourists are the locals themselves. Short-term greed often outweighs long term pragmatism when it comes to them. There's little sense of community ownership of the tourist spots and it's all about passing the buck to someone else, typically the government agencies, blaming them for the mismanagement, while failing to evaluate their own regressive roles in this matter.
CalvinH
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by CalvinH »

I disagree...I have seen far superior service in India if you are willing to spend decently. However the tourist places are a mess..Just visit Tajmahal and you will know. I have a Indian colleague (30+ years in US) in US who came back from Agra after seeing the mess...he was all praise for the Delhi-Agra expressway though..

I am noticing lately that coming to massa for a family vacation is now a norm for the global middle class Indians. Most of my friends from college has visited US east coast taking 7-10 days between different tourist locations in east or west US.
Deans
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Deans »

I'm a late entrant to this topic, but am passionate about Indian tourism, which I think can be a game changer in terms of generating employment and boosting economic growth. I had written a paper on boosting sustainable tourism in UP.
I've taken a break from the corporate world to travel - both across India and parts of the world. Travel in India was partly for my recent book `2022, India's two front war', which took me to some of our border areas. What I noticed:

I fell in love with Sikkim. More beautiful than Switzerland. Also the cleanest State in India, whose people have great civic sense. However, the Pakyong airport, opened only last year, stopped operations after a few months. Sikkim is the only state with no airport. Getting to Gangtok means a 5 hour drive from Bagdogra - instead of 1 hour from Pakyong. Going from Gangtok to anywhere is a drive of 5-6 hours, because of the state of the roads (it was worse before the Doklam crisis).

The Kashmir valley is as beautiful anything in Europe. We need to finish the railway to Srinagar (and beyond - upto Baramula and connecting Anantnag with Pahalgam) which can boost tourism 10X.

The Andaman islands are way better than Goa, with negligible tourism. It is more expensive than going to Phuket (because of limited room supply and flights) but way cheaper than the Maldives - which is in no way better than the Andamans. There's actually a tourist police in the Andamans,

Mehgalaya and Nagaland are real gems. However the centre of Shillong suffers from the same problem as the centre of many Indian tourist destinations - overcrowding, filth, bad urban planning (like Shimla or Darjeeling).

Where we lack:
- I visited Italy in May and stayed in Homestays. They do not cost very much more than good Indian homestays (though an overall basket of goods is 3-4 times more than India) which do not have the same facilities. In India, by and large, home stay owners have a landlord mentality and not a service provider orientation (often, a servant rather than the house owner deals with tourists and there is a tendency to cut corners). In Italy, bed and breakfast standards are laid down by law. They are high and enforced and competition is fierce.
- Public toilets are terrible.
- We are way too unfriendly for women tourists. (how difficult is it to have lady tourist police / help-desk staff in popular attractions)
- Public transport is of very poor quality. Why not have high quality minibuses to ferry tourists, offering the same quality, but lower price than
private taxis.
- No of Touts, cheats, beggars etc are significantly lower than years ago, but high compared to other destinations in the third world. That said, I've
not seen anyone beg in Punjab, Sikkim, Goa or the North East. Worst experience of touts was Kashmir (in winter when there were few tourists).
The most unhelpful govt tourist dept was in Kolkata.
suryag
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by suryag »

Modi ji on Man vs Wild will help Indian tourism further

Kashi
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Kashi »

A wonderful article with lots of information on Kedarnath re-development.

Kedarnath Redevelopment: How Modi’s Pet Project Is Getting It Right On Tradition, Ecology and Development

The 2013 Uttarakhand floods devastated the region around Kedarnath, nearly destroying the whole of Kedarpuri village. Modi has embarked on a pet project to redevelop the region. If things go according to plan, this would be a great example of heritage site redevelopment. The project gets nearly everything right: ecology, tradition, basic infrastructure and sanitation.

Some images

Image

Image

The full version appears at https://medium.com/@maisooru/kedaranath ... df8ba0f7f9
tandav
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by tandav »

All these chardham should be made vehicle free. (Army vehicles except). People going to see Mahadeva must endure the hardships that the mountains offer as penance. If the old and disabled cannot go then their nearest kin must grid their loins and haul them on their own shoulders to see the lord. No easy cantering up to the lord on A/C cars, buses and helicopters. Better go when the body is able and if the body is unable then this journey can be the last one before you meet your maker.
Kashi
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Kashi »

Highway to heaven

A unique project in Varanasi is pushing for modern development in the heartland of Indian antiquity. It may well become a model for historic precincts in the country as India develops economically.

Image

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An aerial view of the path being built from the riverfront to the Kashi Vishwanath temple. The three domes on the left are of the Gyanvapi mosque, which is next to the temple.

Image
This view shows the congested area before the project was taken up.

Image
A 3D model of Kashi Vishwanath temple corridor

Image
Several old temples in Varanasi were rediscovered within the demolished houses.
krisna
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by krisna »

India jumps 6 places in tourism
India has emerged as the best improver among top performers in global tourism, jumping from 40th to 34th position in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index (TTCI) Report 2019 published by the World Economic Forum (WEF). In doing so, it became the only lower-middle-income country in the top 35 countries on the list.
The report had placed India at 52nd and 40th in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
According to the report, India remains South Asia’s most competitive travel and tourism economy. It found that the country had improved in aspects like air (33rd), ground and port infrastructure (28th), international openness (51st), natural resources (14th) and cultural resources (8th).
Further, the report found India to have also greatly improved in areas like business environment (39th), overall travel and tourism policy (69th), infrastructure (55th) and ICT Development Index readiness (105th).
Continual improvement in the last 3-4 years. Recall Nitin Gadkari saying tourism has great potential for generating employment and economics of every region of India. it is also a relatively low skilled inexpensive way to improve the local economy. India has vast untapped tourism potential. It needs to improve its transport and infrastructure to gear up to its unmet needs in employment generation.
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by Jarita »

I am deeply concerned about the relentless and short sighted infrastructure development in fragile areas of the country. It should not be that in the quest for tourism we destroy all our green legacy. There are ancient forests and paths that need not be touched. Below is an excerpt on Char Dham. Ugly, wide roads are being built at the expense of local pathways and shops all of which spoke to an "off beaten path" and ancient tradition. Similar such approach around the Jagannath temple has destroyed ancient Mathas. The question to ask is where does this end. India is a densely populated country and cannot accomocate vehicles the way the US or Europe can. The Indian so called development team is enamoured of the US approach while losing sight if the per capita resources in India. This is enormously destructive. When you talk to stakeholders, they make vacuuous and insane statements like "Trees can be grown elsehwere". Actually you cannot displace the wealth of ancient forests. By that logic the Amazon can be displaced elsewhere. I worry that our planners are very short sighted and destructive.

Char Dham Project - Development or Destruction
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF52r4DfINE
The Char Dham All Weather Road Project has been approved by National Green Tribunal (NGT) on September 26, 2018. The controversial project has evoked several environmental concerns right from the inception stage.

Almost more than one and half year into the unmindful implementation of the project, the risks and fears associated with the project are clearly visible throughout the construction route. In last few months, several independent reports have also raised serious concerns over the haphazard manner in which the project is being executed through sensitive hilly terrain
https://sandrp.in/2018/10/06/char-dham- ... -overview/

Char Dham Pariyojana: HPC report says socio-cultural concern, innovative thought 'largely missing'
The report which was submitted to various union ministries and the apex court last week pointed out lack of efforts to minimize the loss of forests, trees and green cover.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation ... 72741.html
darshan
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by darshan »

Making it touristy and easy loses the whole idea of returning back healthier and healed after yatra.

All the efforts should be made towards safe and sound yatras. Monies should be spent on new age mathas, ayurveda centers, healing centers, etc. One would do good and get extra income easily from all this.

More people means more trash and sewage. Lot of this should be declared environment sensitive zones and no one should be able to commercialize anything without the plan to handle trash and sewage in environment friendly manners.
uddu
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by uddu »


Have a look at the comment section.
There is a problem here. Its not that they are showcasing India and especially the dirty parts of India. Its that the world that don't know English never get to see anything about India in English. Most of our videos are in English. So the parts of the world that speak Spanish and Portuguese have a very negative view of India because the exposure is though their own channels. Solution is to create content for the world that don't speak English. There is opportunity here as well for for content creators. Another is to consider other foreign languages also for curriculum learning other than English in a major way.
S_Madhukar
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Re: Indian Tourism: News & Discussion

Post by S_Madhukar »

I wish someone builds a family friendly theme park on the lines of Panchatantra or heck Mowgliland! Could be a massive roller coasters and water parks … not Bollywood style though… hurts to see INR wasted in Dubai, SEA etc… when we have way more land and resources available. If ME can attract such investment I wonder why we can’t become the centre of wholesome family vacations… Let SEA take care of clubbing and other activities, let’s compete on areas that match with our culture.. same for zoos, aquarium etc
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