Plan to promote the ‘Buddhist circuit train' in China to boost sagging visits
Eyeing China's fast expanding outbound tourism market, which has, so far, largely bypassed India, the Indian government has launched a tourism campaign targeting the world's fastest-growing Buddhist population with a direct sales pitch: visit India and reconnect with your faith.
Indian officials hope that promoting the ‘Buddhist circuit train' in China, which has been in operation since 2007 and stops along several pilgrimage sites in northern India, can help boost the low numbers of Chinese tourists who travel to India.
They have begun marketing the train here as a way for Chinese to reconnect with their faith, but “in comfort.”
India's tourism promotion efforts in China have, however, been hampered in recent months by delays in appointing a representative to lead the India Tourism Beijing office, which has functioned without a director here since June.
Officials said bureaucratic delays in New Delhi had been behind the failure to replace the previous director, Shoeb Samad, who returned to India in June, even though a successor had already been identified.
The office is now being directed by the head of India Tourism based in Singapore, Rajesh Talwar, who is already responsible for the entire Southeast Asian market.
India has, so far, failed to grab a slice of China's thriving tourism industry. Every year, Chinese tourists spend in excess of $40 billion overseas.
Of the estimated 47 million Chinese who travel abroad every year, around 102,000 — or only 0.21 per cent — travelled to India, according to 2009 statistics. Vietnam, South Korea and Japan each attracted more than 10 times that number.
Through the Buddhist circuit train, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and India Tourism are attempting to attract two fast-growing population segments in China — followers of Buddhism, who, according to estimates, number between 100 and 200 million, and a fast expanding outbound tourism market.
“India is blessed to have a lot of pilgrimage sites connected with the Buddha's life,” Rakesh Tandon, managing director of the IRCTC, told an audience of Chinese tour operators and travel agents at the launch of the campaign here on Monday. He promised them a “safe and fully-airconditioned” pilgrimage experience, looking to address Chinese travellers' two biggest concerns about travelling to India — widespread perceptions of lack of safety and the hot tropical climate.
The train takes travellers, over the course of a week, to several cities associated with the Buddha's life. Starting in New Delhi, the ‘Mahaparinirvan Express' stops at places such as Bodhgaya, Varanasi, Nalanda, Kushinagar and eventually, Lumbini in Nepal, the Buddha's birthplace.
In Beijing, Mr. Tandon said the success of trains focused on pilgrimage sites had prompted the Indian Railways to launch another special train service next month, starting from Chandigarh, focusing on important Sikh temples in India.
Keywords: Buddhist circuit train, religious tourism, Buddhism, IRCTC, Incredible India
Buddhism spread across the Asian continent through the efforts and outstanding simplicity of monks.There is nothing wrong in welcoming all our neighbors to India to visit all religious places sacred to them. India is the mother land for Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism and Sikhism.The combined population of these religions can stand up to the onslaught of evangelists and Islam.I want India to follow any of the four religions born in India than adopt either Islam or Christianity which do not tolerate any other religion and work with only a mission to convert the whole world to A Bible world or Islamic world.
This is probably the FIRST newsreport in an Indian newspaper to state that Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha, is in Nepal.
Thank you for bringing out the truth and making your readers aware that they were misled for decades.
Thank you.
Both Ram and Sanjay are right. Because of wandering monks like, Bodhidharma and Buddhagosha, the native kings were impressed by the rich Culture and Philosophy of India at that time which made them to follow the great path of Buddha's Teachings.
It is morally wrong to use religious sentiments to promote tourism and increase wealth. The tourism department wants to go closer to the church and farther away from God and morality. There are thousands of royal palaces and other potentially tourist spots in India which can and should be made attractive to tourists. Those spots have all been in dilapidated conditions with little or no maintenance. Government panjandrums for example converted Tanjore palace buildings to house state government offices with utter disregards to maintain the history of the land. If those places were maintained as cultural heritages they would bring in more revenue than the money saved in using them as real estate property. It looks to me like that the tourism department is afraid that if the tourism department were to promote tourism and bring tourism up to a level the officials in the department may lose their jobs because there will be no longer any raison d'etre for them.
I am an Indian but above post is non sense. Indian kingdoms did not rule anything. Buddhism spread thru East Asia by wondering monks. Buddhist monk Buddhagosha took buddhism from India
Both the hinyana and mahayana traditions of buddhism are widely popular in south asia and south east asian nations. Infact many of these nations were ruled by Indian kingdoms in ancient historical times. Cultural commonalities between India and these nations can act as a bridge in modern diplomacy. In fact Buddhism can become a legitimate instrument of diplomacy to further the strategic and economic interests of our nation.
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