‘Not Disney but culture is India’s USP’

HANGZHOU, NOVEMBER 11: India should not depend on Disney and other foreign brands to woo foreign tourists to the country but use its splendid culture as its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and build adequate infrastructure to boost tourist arrivals, a leading global tourism expert said here.
"I would hope that India would not rely on the Disney co for example, however successful they are in many places. People would want to go to India to see India," Director of 2006 world leisure expo, Dr Gerald s Kenyon said.

"Indian domestic tourists, like the Chinese may like to see Disney. But in my view, attracting international tourists to India will depend upon Indian culture at its best. Indian culture is so rich and so varied.

That is India's USP. "India has a good opportunity to attract more international tourists to the country," Kenyon in the eastern Chinese city which was one of the seven ancient capitals of the country. he noted that the number of visitors to both India and China has been going up very rapidly. "this has major implications, including the economic gains for both countries," he said on the sidelines of the just-concluded 'third globalisation forum on world cultural diversity' organised by the people's daily, the mouthpiece of the ruling communist party of China.

According to latest figures from the department of tourism, foreign tourist arrivals in India till October this year has registered an increase of 14.2 per cent.

Foreign exchange earnings, in Rupees term, also recorded the growth of 20.4 per cent during January-October, 2005. Total earnings during the period was Rs. 20512.68 crore.

Last according to the latest Chinese tourism statistics, the country reported a record foreign exchange earning of $22 billion in the first nine months this year, up 18.2 per cent year-on-year. China received 89.63 million tourists from outside the mainland during January-September, up 12.2 per cent year-on-year.

In 2004, the number of tourists from outside the mainland reached 109 million, including 41.76 million who stayed over night; and foreign exchange earnings from tourism reached 25.7 billion dollars. "in the long-term, our concern is to provide quality experience for the visitors," Kenyon, whose world leisure organisation is going to host the 2006 world leisure expo in Hangzhou, said. "you want people to come back again.

The visitors would come back if they have good experience. So it is very important for the governments to get tourism and leisure policies right. If you get these things right, people will definitely come back," he said.

"It starts with policy, commitment, adequate infrastructure and programming," Kenyon added.

The world leisure expo is first of three mega-events to be hosted by China in this decade. The other two being the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the Shanghai World Exposition in 2010.