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The Travel & Tourism Industry |
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The tourism industry has two major aspects:
1.Tourism
2. Travel
Tourism includes various types, like medical tourism, health tourism, spiritual tourism and rural tourism. The travel segment includes various tour operators and other travel agencies.
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There are a number or emerging dimensions of tourism. These include:
1. Medical Tourism: Indian tourism is aiming to promote its allopathic treatment as a tourist attraction. Medical tourism tends to provide world-class treatment at low price and is gaining worldwide acceptance. Doctors and other medical experts are organizing health camps and other general awareness programs. The vast array of health care services includes ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, meditation, spas and many more.
2. Spiritual Tourism: India has a rich heritage of cultures and religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism have lived here for centuries. There is so much mental pressure and disturbance all over the world that people are looking forward to find solace. India is being represented as a destination for spiritual tourism. Spiritual tourism includes all the religions, religious places associated with them, and emotional attachment and beliefs attached to these centers. Thus, through religious tourism there is a sincere effort to bring better understanding among various communities, nations and thus foster global unity.
3. Rural Tourism: Real India is rural India. Almost 74% of the population is in rural areas. For the development of rural India, government is promoting rural tourism. Rural tourism showcases the rural life in India, the art, culture and heritage, the nature and wild life and various other aspects of rural India. The rural India has a great potential to attract foreign tourists. The rural tourism helps in improving lives of rural people and maintaining the quality of environment.
4. Adventurous Tourism: India is an incredible destination for adventures. The snow capped Himalayas, erratic streams, safaris, etc all add to its natural glory. Water sports, elephant safari, mountaineering, skiing, gliding, trekking, river rafting, etc are breath-taking opportunities for adventurous people. Ladakh, the Garwal hills, the Himachal hills, Darjeeling, Goa, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, are some of the places that offer adventure tourism.
5. MICE Tourism: MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) is associated with business travelers. It caters to various forms of business meetings, international conferences and conventions, events and exhibitions. India is gaining pace to become an ideal MICE destination due to the flourishing business here.
The MICE industry converts the annual business meetings and conferences into a glamorous and enjoyable event for the delegates and attendants. To develop business tourism in India, some renowned MICE centres are already established. The Ashok (New Delhi), Hyderabad International Convention Centre (Hyderabad), Le Meridien (Cochin), Delhi International Expo Centre (Noida) are some of them.
6. Eco Tourism: People are visiting India to unravel the secrets of nature. Eco tourism (also known as nature tourism) relates to nature and its attractiveness so that the visitors experience it in its pristine settings. Eco tourism attracts domestic as well as international tourists towards the magnificent ancient cities, hill stations, remote villages, desert areas and wildlife centuries and parks in India. It is the fastest growing sector of Indian tourism comprising 40 to 60 per cent of all international tourism.
The travel segment includes various travel agencies and tour operators who organize the tours and trips for domestic as well as international visitors. There are various associations that control the activities of travel agents and tour operators. These include:
1.Travel Agents Association of India
2.Pacific Asia Travel Association
3.Travel Agents Federation of India
4.Indian Association of Tour Operators
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