It’s summer time and you are probably on a break from school and studies. Do your plans include staying at home and just chilling, making short trips to the beach and amusement parks? Or are you going somewhere far away on holiday?
Either way, this is a great time to learn about tourism and how much the economy depends on it. Think of all the facilities that are built and maintained exclusively for out-of-towners and vacationers – hotels, railway stations, airports, guided tours, heritage sites, and shopping festivals. All this infrastructure was created because income from tourism is a major source of revenue for governments.
Travel and tourism contributes to almost seven percent of India’s GDP. It creates jobs – think of hotel receptionists, tourist guides, and vendors who sell merchandise outside temples. Also, the more foreign tourists visit India and the more they spend, the more foreign exchange our country earns.
Now wonder there are always people encouraging you to travel to different places. Think of all the travel companies offering special packages for adventure holidays or temple tours. Last week, for example, four airlines slashed the prices of flight tickets to make tourists fly to destinations instead of take the train.
Marketing campaigns inviting you to visit places within India are doing the rounds as well. One of my favourites is the Incredible India campaign that showcases all that’s there to see in different states.
Just like there are incentives to tourism, there might be reasons why people refuse to travel to certain places. An outbreak of a disease may discourage tourists from visiting a certain country or frequent natural disasters, like earthquakes, may be turn off. Nowadays, countries issue travel advisories to their citizens, advising them on which countries to avoid and what precautions to take when visiting certain places. These may range from health advice (vaccinations you may need before travelling somewhere) to what to do if you’re caught in a terrorist attack.
Since tourism is, over and above everything else, about business, sellers must meet the needs of buyers and be able to constantly sense the mood of the market and how it shifts. For a few decades now, you would have noticed how global warming and climate change have become issues that people talk about every day. So tourism has adapted itself to meet the needs of ecologically-aware travellers who want to minimize their carbon footprints. Or space tourism. There are already people eager to visit outer space and booking trips to the moon for the future even though the technology to make such visits possible is not available now.
But to understand the best kind of opportunism, you need to look no farther than India. You’re well aware that the general elections have started and political parties are campaigning to form the next government of India. Tour sellers have latched onto this and many operators across India are now offering ‘election tours’ so foreigners can see how elections are conducted in the world’s biggest democracy. These election tours include visits to political rallies, seeing the voting process on election day and meeting party leaders and Election Commission officers. Now isn’t that a great idea to make money?
Do write in with your stories about how you’re spending your summer and how money figures in your plans. What’s your summer budget and how are you spending it? Did you take a part-time job to make a little money of your own? Drop a message at tanya.et@thehindu.co.in
