First time in my life I donated blood (17.09.2011). I feel really good and have taken an oath to donate it every three months.
My blood group is B+. Anyone who needs blood can contact me.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Sunday, September 28, 2008
EMERGING TRENDS OF INTERNATIONAL TOURISM IN INDIA
M. Saleem Mir
Department of Geography
Delhi School of Economics
University of Delhi
Introduction
Nature and structure of tourism has changed vastly in recent years. In fact one of the distinguishing features of tourism is its fluidity across space and through time and so there are significant shifts in the location and character of tourist space. This leads not only to the emergence of new destinations but also the restructuring of established ones. The spatial shifts of tourist destinations can be seen from the following key changes in the tourism trends:
1. the reduction in the share of the world market of established tourism regions in Europe and Americas.
2. the relatively static positions of Africa and South Asia, including India and Middle East.
3. the dramatic expansion of tourism to East Asia and the Pacific.
The reasons for such changes are in one way or the other, related with the economic development in the world. The increase in infrastructural facilities, progress in travel and transportation facilities, change in the perception of tourists, tourist friendly policies, progress in international trade, etc. have a profound effect on the changing trends in international tourism and these factors are very strongly related with the economic trends, which in turn are greatly affected by the globalization. So it is actually the globalization manifested in economic trends which have a strong relationship with the change in the trends of international tourism.
The share of ‘tourist arrivals’, by developing countries, has increased and is still increasing. We can say that the trend and direction of international tourism is changing. Although the change is negligible at the moment but there are indications that, in the future, the change in tourism trends will be drastic and the globalization and liberalization will handle and determine these trends.
Tourism in the world as a whole has increased both in terms of the number of arrivals and tourism earnings. The importance of this industry is increasing with each passing day. This industry has been recognized both by International Monetary Fund and World Bank as the number one generator in income and employment. But it is not only the growth in the economy that the tourism is important for but the transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor nations. In that sense international tourism is most important of all economic activities because it leads to the distribution rather than the concentration of the wealth. Moreover, tourism generates the employment at all levels. It can create jobs in far flung areas where other industries would feel shy to go. It can also open up backward and remote areas by providing not only jobs but also creating better and sustained economic growth.
India stands nowhere when its contribution to world tourism is taken into consideration. Being a big country it has everything to offer to everybody but due to lack of the attention of planners for a long time this industry has remained under-exploited. The trend of tourist flow has declined, at least, in comparison to other Asian countries. For example, in 1980 India ranked 19th in terms of tourist arrivals while China was at number 34, but today India has taken China’s place and China has gone up to the 4th position. However, India is more than capable of making it to the world's top 20 tourist destinations but with a little constructive help from the government.
In spite of having the highest potential of tourism development in Asia, India is losing its tourism market to other countries like China, Thailand, Indonesia etc. The reasons, although not so clear, are probably that India lacks a globally attractive infrastructure and we are still not so open to the world economy. Tourism is the industry with high benefits at relatively lower costs. It earns huge foreign exchange, generates employment although its impact on natural and cultural environment has been a debatable facet. So to develop this industry to its capacity is the need of the hour for India because some of its unemployment problem will be solved through development of tourism and it will help to stabilize our balance of payments. Globalization is going to affect this sector to a great extent and the trends and direction of tourist flow is going to change drastically. This study will analyze this relationship and identify the emerging possible tourist destinations and the factors that are going to attract the global tourists in future. So the significance of this work lies in the fact that by knowing the emerging trends of tourism we can adjust ourselves accordingly so as to attract as many and as diverse tourists as possible.
Objectives
This study mainly focuses on the role of globalization manifested in economic growth trends in changing the trends and direction of tourist flow. Keeping this in mind the following objectives have been set forth:
1 To analyze the relationship between tourism and globalization.
2 To identify which have been the major sources and destinations of international tourists and what is their status today.
3 To bring out the changes in the structure of tourism.
Hypotheses
In the attempt to meet the above objectives the study would also test the following hypotheses.
1. Structural change as well as the economic policy regime and tourism have a direct and strong interrelationship.
2. Globalization not only increases the tourist volume but also determines the directions and destinations of the tourists.
Database and Methodology
This study will be based entirely on the secondary sources of data which may include various publications of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Annual reports of World Tourism Organization published in various journals and its website; Foreign Tourist Statistics, an annual publication of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Foreign Tourist Survey Report, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Economic Survey, Government of India. These sources provide the data regarding both the inbound and outbound tourism of India, foreign exchange earnings, share of India in the world tourist receipts, composition of international tourists coming to India, number of hotels and hotel rooms etc. World Tourism Organization reports avail the data pertaining to almost every country of the world. The data is about the number of international tourist arrivals, per cent share of each country to world tourism, international tourist receipts, emerging tourist destinations etc. Apart from these other sources which will be consulted include internet, magazines, tourist guide books, Statistical Abstracts, published and unpublished material.
The data collected and compiled will be cross-tabulated. Relationships among variables and impacts would be analyzed through correlation matrices and regression models.
Organization of the study
The work has been divided into six chapters. Chapter I, Research Problem, Database and Methodology, deals with the relevance of the study and the reasons for choosing this topic. Moreover, databases used and the methodology applied are discussed at length. Chapter II, titled Trends in International Tourism – Volume and Spatial Patterns, analyzes the flow of international tourists in the world in terms of direction and number. Same, with special focus on India, has been examined and presented in Chapter III, Tourism Trends – Focus on India. Then the focus is shifted to the tourism infrastructure and its current trends with respect to India in Chapter IV, Trends in Tourism Infrastructure in India. Relationship between the current economic trends and the corresponding changes in international tourism is dealt with in Chapter V, Economic Trends and Tourism – A Study of Relationships. Chapter VI is devoted to the findings of the study and has been put under the title, Summary of Conclusions.
Major Findings
• Tourism in the world as a whole is growing in terms of number of international arrivals and the tourism earnings and at the same time the destinations are showing a changing trend. The established major tourism destinations are slowly loosing their importance to the less familiar and new ones.
• India is also showing a growth in international tourism. In absolute terms there has been a growing trend in arrivals and receipts but in terms of the share in the world tourism the change is negligible. Moreover, the tourism market of India has also shown a slight change. New markets are not being explored rather the already important ones are getting more attention.
• Structure of international tourists coming to India has changed drastically and the trend is not favourable for the India’s tourism industry.
• Not only the tourist arrivals to India but the outbound tourism is also experiencing drastic changes. It has increased and is growing much faster than the inbound tourism. The destinations for Indians going abroad have also shifted and the trend here is that new destinations are explored.
• Within India there are great variations in the distribution of tourism infrastructure, especially the accommodation, across different states and regions. In fact, tourism infrastructure is concentrated in some cities only.
• Tourist arrivals have shown a positive and strong interrelationship with per capita GDP and the inflow of FDI.
Conclusions
• Globalization, especially in the economic and communication sector is the major cause for the increase in the international tourism and changing trends in terms of volume and direction.
• India’s tourist volume is increasing at a faster rate than the world average but the tourism market has not shown a prominent progress. Instead of diversifying the tourism market it is getting more concentrated in few top tourist sending countries.
• The structure of international tourists to India is changing, but the trend is not a favourable sign for Indian tourism industry as the proportion of business tourists is declining while it has increased for the category of recreation. Similarly, the share of tourists of the relatively high spending age group is declining.
• Outbound tourism is performing well above that of the inbound tourism. The favourable destinations of Indians going abroad are also changing. With the economic development the tastes and purposes of tourists change and new destinations are explored.
• Tourism infrastructure and tourist arrivals are highly correlated with each other. India is lacking the infrastructural facilities which are the main driving force for the international tourists to make them stay longer and hence increasing the foreign exchange in terms of tourism receipts. But India is lacking such facilities mainly the hotel accommodation.
• Tourist arrival to India has a strong correlation with the inflow of FDI and per capita GDP. These two economic indicators are also the main factors of economic globalization. Hence globalization has a profound effect on the tourism trends in India.
Department of Geography
Delhi School of Economics
University of Delhi
Introduction
Nature and structure of tourism has changed vastly in recent years. In fact one of the distinguishing features of tourism is its fluidity across space and through time and so there are significant shifts in the location and character of tourist space. This leads not only to the emergence of new destinations but also the restructuring of established ones. The spatial shifts of tourist destinations can be seen from the following key changes in the tourism trends:
1. the reduction in the share of the world market of established tourism regions in Europe and Americas.
2. the relatively static positions of Africa and South Asia, including India and Middle East.
3. the dramatic expansion of tourism to East Asia and the Pacific.
The reasons for such changes are in one way or the other, related with the economic development in the world. The increase in infrastructural facilities, progress in travel and transportation facilities, change in the perception of tourists, tourist friendly policies, progress in international trade, etc. have a profound effect on the changing trends in international tourism and these factors are very strongly related with the economic trends, which in turn are greatly affected by the globalization. So it is actually the globalization manifested in economic trends which have a strong relationship with the change in the trends of international tourism.
The share of ‘tourist arrivals’, by developing countries, has increased and is still increasing. We can say that the trend and direction of international tourism is changing. Although the change is negligible at the moment but there are indications that, in the future, the change in tourism trends will be drastic and the globalization and liberalization will handle and determine these trends.
Tourism in the world as a whole has increased both in terms of the number of arrivals and tourism earnings. The importance of this industry is increasing with each passing day. This industry has been recognized both by International Monetary Fund and World Bank as the number one generator in income and employment. But it is not only the growth in the economy that the tourism is important for but the transfer of wealth from the rich to the poor nations. In that sense international tourism is most important of all economic activities because it leads to the distribution rather than the concentration of the wealth. Moreover, tourism generates the employment at all levels. It can create jobs in far flung areas where other industries would feel shy to go. It can also open up backward and remote areas by providing not only jobs but also creating better and sustained economic growth.
India stands nowhere when its contribution to world tourism is taken into consideration. Being a big country it has everything to offer to everybody but due to lack of the attention of planners for a long time this industry has remained under-exploited. The trend of tourist flow has declined, at least, in comparison to other Asian countries. For example, in 1980 India ranked 19th in terms of tourist arrivals while China was at number 34, but today India has taken China’s place and China has gone up to the 4th position. However, India is more than capable of making it to the world's top 20 tourist destinations but with a little constructive help from the government.
In spite of having the highest potential of tourism development in Asia, India is losing its tourism market to other countries like China, Thailand, Indonesia etc. The reasons, although not so clear, are probably that India lacks a globally attractive infrastructure and we are still not so open to the world economy. Tourism is the industry with high benefits at relatively lower costs. It earns huge foreign exchange, generates employment although its impact on natural and cultural environment has been a debatable facet. So to develop this industry to its capacity is the need of the hour for India because some of its unemployment problem will be solved through development of tourism and it will help to stabilize our balance of payments. Globalization is going to affect this sector to a great extent and the trends and direction of tourist flow is going to change drastically. This study will analyze this relationship and identify the emerging possible tourist destinations and the factors that are going to attract the global tourists in future. So the significance of this work lies in the fact that by knowing the emerging trends of tourism we can adjust ourselves accordingly so as to attract as many and as diverse tourists as possible.
Objectives
This study mainly focuses on the role of globalization manifested in economic growth trends in changing the trends and direction of tourist flow. Keeping this in mind the following objectives have been set forth:
1 To analyze the relationship between tourism and globalization.
2 To identify which have been the major sources and destinations of international tourists and what is their status today.
3 To bring out the changes in the structure of tourism.
Hypotheses
In the attempt to meet the above objectives the study would also test the following hypotheses.
1. Structural change as well as the economic policy regime and tourism have a direct and strong interrelationship.
2. Globalization not only increases the tourist volume but also determines the directions and destinations of the tourists.
Database and Methodology
This study will be based entirely on the secondary sources of data which may include various publications of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Annual reports of World Tourism Organization published in various journals and its website; Foreign Tourist Statistics, an annual publication of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Foreign Tourist Survey Report, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India; Economic Survey, Government of India. These sources provide the data regarding both the inbound and outbound tourism of India, foreign exchange earnings, share of India in the world tourist receipts, composition of international tourists coming to India, number of hotels and hotel rooms etc. World Tourism Organization reports avail the data pertaining to almost every country of the world. The data is about the number of international tourist arrivals, per cent share of each country to world tourism, international tourist receipts, emerging tourist destinations etc. Apart from these other sources which will be consulted include internet, magazines, tourist guide books, Statistical Abstracts, published and unpublished material.
The data collected and compiled will be cross-tabulated. Relationships among variables and impacts would be analyzed through correlation matrices and regression models.
Organization of the study
The work has been divided into six chapters. Chapter I, Research Problem, Database and Methodology, deals with the relevance of the study and the reasons for choosing this topic. Moreover, databases used and the methodology applied are discussed at length. Chapter II, titled Trends in International Tourism – Volume and Spatial Patterns, analyzes the flow of international tourists in the world in terms of direction and number. Same, with special focus on India, has been examined and presented in Chapter III, Tourism Trends – Focus on India. Then the focus is shifted to the tourism infrastructure and its current trends with respect to India in Chapter IV, Trends in Tourism Infrastructure in India. Relationship between the current economic trends and the corresponding changes in international tourism is dealt with in Chapter V, Economic Trends and Tourism – A Study of Relationships. Chapter VI is devoted to the findings of the study and has been put under the title, Summary of Conclusions.
Major Findings
• Tourism in the world as a whole is growing in terms of number of international arrivals and the tourism earnings and at the same time the destinations are showing a changing trend. The established major tourism destinations are slowly loosing their importance to the less familiar and new ones.
• India is also showing a growth in international tourism. In absolute terms there has been a growing trend in arrivals and receipts but in terms of the share in the world tourism the change is negligible. Moreover, the tourism market of India has also shown a slight change. New markets are not being explored rather the already important ones are getting more attention.
• Structure of international tourists coming to India has changed drastically and the trend is not favourable for the India’s tourism industry.
• Not only the tourist arrivals to India but the outbound tourism is also experiencing drastic changes. It has increased and is growing much faster than the inbound tourism. The destinations for Indians going abroad have also shifted and the trend here is that new destinations are explored.
• Within India there are great variations in the distribution of tourism infrastructure, especially the accommodation, across different states and regions. In fact, tourism infrastructure is concentrated in some cities only.
• Tourist arrivals have shown a positive and strong interrelationship with per capita GDP and the inflow of FDI.
Conclusions
• Globalization, especially in the economic and communication sector is the major cause for the increase in the international tourism and changing trends in terms of volume and direction.
• India’s tourist volume is increasing at a faster rate than the world average but the tourism market has not shown a prominent progress. Instead of diversifying the tourism market it is getting more concentrated in few top tourist sending countries.
• The structure of international tourists to India is changing, but the trend is not a favourable sign for Indian tourism industry as the proportion of business tourists is declining while it has increased for the category of recreation. Similarly, the share of tourists of the relatively high spending age group is declining.
• Outbound tourism is performing well above that of the inbound tourism. The favourable destinations of Indians going abroad are also changing. With the economic development the tastes and purposes of tourists change and new destinations are explored.
• Tourism infrastructure and tourist arrivals are highly correlated with each other. India is lacking the infrastructural facilities which are the main driving force for the international tourists to make them stay longer and hence increasing the foreign exchange in terms of tourism receipts. But India is lacking such facilities mainly the hotel accommodation.
• Tourist arrival to India has a strong correlation with the inflow of FDI and per capita GDP. These two economic indicators are also the main factors of economic globalization. Hence globalization has a profound effect on the tourism trends in India.
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