Budget 2024: Tourism Gets Short Shrift: Marketing Budget Slashed to Zero

Another year, when ‘tourism’ is being short-changed; Budget 2024 must revisit the need to market inbound tourism, considering the growth of overall infrastructure, including the convention business. Our PM is the best ambassador for India’s ‘tourism’, he has mentioned tourism a few times more than all our past PMs ever did collectively. And yet, ‘tourism’ gets short shrift in the budget allocation for 2024/25 for promotion of Destination India. Yet again, repeatedly, year on year! As the budget gets discussed and before it is passed, here is hoping ‘tourism’ gets a second consideration from the Hon’ble FM, and gets its due, as a serious business activity for the Indian economy.

Budget 2024 has been no exception. For tourism, that is. Per se, for this industry, no special announcement, except perhaps, if you do the reading right, a further downgrade in the scheme of things. In a budget of the size of a few lakh crores, the expense on publicity has been scaled down from 100 crores to 33 crores. Imagine, this downsizing! I am not good at maths, never was. But just do work this out, from what percentage of the overall budget, has this downscaling been? It is simply unfathomable, how come this minute gaze, only to be sidelined from being recognized for its intrinsic value, to the economy, the jobs it creates, its inclusive impact in far-off places in the hinterland?

Who stands for ‘tourism’ most of all, in our country. Tourism is the PM’s first love. Like it or not, this is true. He never tires to speak tourism at every event – his straddling the shores of Lakshadweep is a most recent example. His inaugurations with pride and glory of the renovated Bharat Mandapam (Pragati Maidan) complex and of the newly green field Yashobhoomi complex (Dwarka) as new temples of Indian infrastructure. His repeated push for tourism; for Indian weddings within India, the need for Indians to explore India with a minimum number of destinations visited within a time frame; inviting the diaspora to send 5 friends to India as tourists; at every function where he has inaugurated an expressway, an airport, or any new facility, he has been quick to mention that ‘tourism’ in that region will benefit most. In fact, connectivity and ease of travel, as the essential pre-requisites to travel, business, economy, and therefore ‘tourism’, has been his consistent reminder of India’s quest to become the leading destination globally. He breathes Indian heritage, wants to promote it to the world. Tourism is the best magnet to do this and the PM understands this himself.

First, let us be clear. Infrastructure building is the keystone. That is there in place, it is a process, firm and steadfast, like never before. In rail, road, and by air. We have achieved much in these fields, everybody must and does recognize. Our tourism product is ready and ripe to be marketed. An earlier argument that we don’t have adequate infrastructure to market the product, is no longer true. Ease in travel has improved most significantly across verticals, including the digital payments and online facilities.

It is being extensively used for travel for all purposes, essentially domestic driven. Post covid, the local domestic demand has outstripped expectations, reduced the dependence upon inbound/foreign tourism, as a whole. That is true only for parts in the country, especially for the tourist resorts, outside of the metros. But the story within the key metros, this is where capacity is relatively idle, as a year-round figure, at perhaps 60%. In the far away locations, it may have reached 70/80%, but then many of these domestic locations are not frequented by foreigners. Unfortunately, cities like Agra are still lagging behind, as unfrequented by Indians. Or Khajuraho, as another example. There is certainly scope for inbound. Pure tourism destinations can do with more foreign tourists, as of now, this coming winter.

Another point to note, today’s tourism has become more specialised than ever before. It is not just groups, its free individual travel; there are pronounced streams like weddings and conferences to be promoted, especially with the new infrastructure. Also, worth remembering is that the world is not waiting, on our doorstep, to visit us. We are ‘God’s Own Country’, but then so many countries have been promoting their own gods. There is a lag time, between promotions and experiences to happen, can be anywhere like two to five years. So, what is my story, and here it goes.

Instead of 100 crores wilting down to 33 crores, this figure should have been raised to at least 2000 crores, only to justify and recognize the sterling work that the government has been doing in augmenting our conventions infrastructure.

Convention tourism is big business globally. In the US, cities vie with each other for every small and big conference. There are two new and most ambitious centres in Delhi. Not to forget the over 1 lakh sqm facility built in Mumbai, in the private the sector, the JIO (Ambani) World Centre, comparably among the global best. Conferences are usually decided and firmed up a number of years ahead. The next Olympics, four years away, are in LA. They would not happen overnight. Convention business the world over, is tricky, it calls for national bids from competing associations globally, there are gala events where destinations and facilities are showcased. It’s a tough business. It takes years to fructify. How about empowering the ITPO to take the lead, with industry help, with a corpus of 500 crores to simply promote conventions and conferences into India. Please remember, the bigger the conference size, the longer its lead time.

There are other streams – weddings are one, wellness and medical is another. The list is endless. It’s a no brainer to say that the best global message we could send to the world, that India is doing well, is that we are ‘tourism’ ready. That we can host the G20 summit, with all its extra requirements like security for multiple heads of state, plethora of meeting spaces, ability to host heads of state together at the same time, showcase our unique culture and experience, like no other. Flawlessly, with zero glitches.

One can go on, endlessly. The new big stream, riding on the success of building the temple at Ayodhya, there is demand for religious tourism into India. Infrastructure has considerably been upgraded again at places like Katra, Shirdi, Varanasi and Tirupathi, among others.

Let me amplify again, that ‘tourism’ is the overall arching expression of what any destination provides. Not just tourist attractions, very little of it is ‘sair-sapatta’. It is the sum total product. Because visitors are coming in for all reasons, in all seasons. All because India is the flavour in these times. Tourism reflects upon the overall stature of the destination, as having ‘arrived’.

At another level, why just a one-off display and expenditure during G20? Why not continuous, all year-round promotions, for all the same reasons that we went all out to showcase during the summit, to further build upon its successes? At least what we spent on promotions during the G20 year should be available year on year, for the next five years, to promote ‘Destination India.’

Only, the opposite is happening. In recent years, tourism promotion has seen a steady decline in emphasis. Tourist offices were closed, all of them, to say we will find alternate mechanisms, but yet to be identified. Money has seen a steady fall, down now to just 33 crores, when the state of Kerala alone has a budget of 45 crores. There are no current advertising creatives, no advertising agencies, no panel of agencies working on any advertising. Its ground zero, with no plans in sight!

So, our understanding goes as follows: this budget and many more to follow must take up promotion of tourism, to Destination India, as one its key fundamentals, as a rare and unique experience that the PM himself has never tired of mentioning. And, this when we are ready to take off, showcase our successes to the world. Otherwise, inbound tourism promotion is getting nipped in the bud? The only loser would be Destination India?