Abstract

The caselet gives an overview of the ‘Incredible India’

campaign undertaken by the Government of India (GoI) to
promote tourism in India. It highlights the measures taken
by the Tourism Department of India in various countries
across the world to promote ‘Brand India’. It also deals with
the public relations exercise undertaken by the GoI to
restore tourists’ confidence in view of the tsunami that hit
the country in 2004.

Issues:

» Integrated Marketing Communications

in tourism promotion

Introduction

Till 2002, Indian tourism was promoted

through delegates at the Indian tourist
offices located globally. These promotional
campaigns were not too effective as the
promotional approach was unorganized,
varied, and limited by the skills and
capabilities of the delegates. Realizing the
need for a consistent approach, the
Tourism Department of India appointed
Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Delhi, to
develop a print campaign and Enterprise
Nexus, Mumbai, to create a television
commercial. The media account was
handled by WPP Group’s Maximize India,
and Grey Interactive was briefed to work
on the official website
www.tourismofindia.com.

In September 2002, the Tourism Department unveiled a new

campaign called ‘Incredible India’ to promote Indian tourism
globally. The first phase of the campaign, for a period of
three months, was jointly funded by the Government of
India and Experience India Society, an association of travel
agents in India. The campaign focused on the Himalayas,
wildlife, yoga, and ayurveda and was widely promoted in the
print media, television, and the Internet. The television
campaign was telecast on CNN, BBC, and other popular
channels across the world.

Evaluation:

India achieved a significant growth in terms of foreign tourist arrivals

in the last two years. A record growth of 26.8 per cent foreign tourist
arrivals was achieved in 2004, while the growth was 13.2 per cent in
2005, taking India’s tourist arrivals from 2.73 million in 2003 to 3.92
million in 2005, indicating a robust growth of 43.6 per cent in the
period 2003-2005. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism have
also shown a phenomenal growth, achieving an increase of 35 per
cent in 2004, and 20 per cent in 2005 over the previous year (in dollar
terms), taking India’s foreign exchange earnings from US$ 3.5 billion
in 2003 to US$ 5.7 billion in 2005. World Travel and Tourism Council
has estimated that demand for India Tourism will grow annually at 8.8
per cent over the next decade, which will be the highest in the world.

International Recognition

• Lonely Planet has selected India amongst the top 5

destinations from 167 countries.
• Condenast Traveller and i-explore has ranked India amongst
top 5 preferred destinations in world.
• ABTA (Association of British Travel Agency) has ranked India
as No.1 amongst top 50 places for 2006.
• Incredible India Campaign has been the winner of PATA gold
Award for best Print Ad Campaign, PATA Gold Award for best
destination campaign.
• Incredible India Campaign has been ranked as the Highest
recall advertisement by worldwide and has been given the Jury
 Award by Travelution, Netherland for the best advertising
campaign for 2004.
• TTG Asia has ranked the Department of Tourism as best
National Tourism Organisation.
• India was appointed chairperson of UNWTO task force to draw
strategy for rehabilitation of tourism in the Tsunami affected
areas.
• India was elected to represent South Asia on the Executive
Council of UNWTO, the highest policy making world tourism
body represented by 150 countries.

Revival of Tourism in J&K

Revival of tourism in J&K has been taken up as one of the top
priorities of the Government. Special package for revival of tourism in
J&K has been announced. A number of projects, to give a boost to
tourism in J&K, have been declared at a total cost of Rs.279.50 crore,
which include setting up of 50 tourist villages, financial support to 12
tourism authorities, establishing a new tourism circuit covering –
Lakhanpur-Basoli-Bani-Bhaderwah –Kishtwar-Sinthan-Srinagar. It
also includes assistance to travel agents for marketing, training in
tourism industry and developing skills of youths for employment and
tourism industry.

Boost to Rural TourismIn view of the huge development potential of

tourism, 71 rural tourism projects have been sanctioned to spread
tourism and its socio-economic benefits to identified rural sites having
tourism potential. The capacity building programme has also been
taken up in partnership with UNDP for 36 rural tourism sites so that
the benefit of tourism reaches the community at large.

Efforts to Overcome Shortage of Accommodation

In order to meet the rising demand of accommodation due to

increased growth in tourist arrivals, Department of Tourism brought
out guidelines for classification of Apartment Hotels, Time Share
resorts and Guest Houses. The Department also sanctioned capital
subsidy for 21 budget category hotels and interest subsidy for 160
budget category hotels during last two years. In all 276 hotels in
different categories were classified and 230 hotels were re-classified.
Approval was granted for 109 hotel projects with 7,206 rooms. In
addition, 23 foreign technical collaboration in hotel industry and 9
cases of foreign investments were cleared.

Medical Tourism

Initiatives have been launched to promote Medical Tourism, in

partnership with the private sector, to make India a Global health care
destination. The accreditation norms, price banding for identified
hospitals and identified specialised medical services along with a list
of hospitals, which could be used for health tourism purposes have
been prepared by Indian Health care Federation, a NGO affiliated to
CII, on advice of the Government. A new category of visa – “Medical
Visa” has been introduced, which can be given for specific purpose to
foreign tourists coming to India for medical treatment. The guidelines
for accreditation of Ayurveda and Panchkarma centre have also been
issued for implementation, to ensure required standard of services,
so that holistic health tourism could be promoted. Cruise
TourismCruise tourism is emerging as a fast growing sector globally
with huge spin offs because it generates large-scale business in all
areas of travel trade. A draft concept and policy has been drawn up to
make India an attractive cruise tourism destination with state-of-the-
art infrastructural and other facilities at various ports and to achieve a
target of 6 lakh cruise passenger landing per year by the end of 2010.
Star Cruises Limited has launched its operation in India due to
proactive policy of the Government to promote cruise tourism.

Ensuring Safety For Adventure Tourists

The norms and standards to be followed by land, air and water based
adventure activities for tourism purpose have been developed.

Tourism Infrastructure Development

The tourism infrastructure development projects, worth Rs.984.81

crore, were sanctioned for 570 tourism projects in all the States for
creating a world-class experience to the tourists. The scheme of
promoting Public Private Partnership for Large Revenue Generating
tourism projects has been finalised. A new scheme of Viability Gap
Funding for assisting private sector driven tourism projects has been
launched.
Thrust on North East

Major thrust has been given for tourism infrastructure development in

North East including Sikkim, with 82 projects amounting to Rs.193.71
crore were sanctioned with the objective of developing it as a
sustainable destination with community participation.

Setting up of Convention Centres

With a view to increasing India’s share in the growing business of

Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events (MICE) segment, it
has been decided to support setting up of large and small Convention
Centres with exhibition facilities at various metros and other cities.
These Centres will not only fetch a large amount of foreign exchange
but also give boost to other economic activities.

Development Of Buddhist Circuits

Infrastructure upgradation of Buddhist circuits has been taken in a big

way through identification of 22 important Buddhist sites throughout
the country. The Government has sanctioned 14 projects amounting
to Rs. 57.22 crore for development of tourism infrastructure in 12
sites. The infrastructure development has also been taken up through
JBIC for Ajanta-Ellora, amounting to Rs. 299 crore. The Government
has also entered into an agreement for undertaking infrastructure
development at Buddhist sites of Sarnath, Kushinagar, Kapilvastu,
Shravasti and Sankisa in U.P., with JBIC for a loan assistance of Rs.
395.63 crore for total project of Rs. 680 crore. A major campaign
titled “Come to India-Walk with the Buddha” was launched in the
SouthEast Asian market and in Domestic market for promotion of
Buddhist circuit. In addition Buddhism has also been identified for
tourism development in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri
Lanka through a common promotional campaign.

‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ Campaign

Atithi Devo Bhavah - a nation wide campaign aimed at sensitising key
stakeholders towards tourists, through a process of training and
orientation was launched. It re-instilled a sense of responsibility
towards tourists and re-enforced the confidence of foreign tourist
towards India as a preferred holiday destination.

Promotional Campaigns

Incredible India Campaign was given a new dimension with the

“Colors of India” and “Wellness Campaign” in global market, which
made its impact through growth of 26.8 per cent in tourist arrivals and
31.5 per cent in foreign exchange earnings. This campaign also went
on to win several awards internationally. In addition to the global
campaign, the domestic tourist market of 367 million was targeted for
the first time through a series of campaign for “Taj 350 Years”,
Andaman and Nicobar islands, north eastern region, including
Sikkim, J&K, Eastern India, Central India, Southern India, Buddhist
circuit etc. A series of “Incredible India” Road shows were also
organised in important overseas markets, with participation of senior
level delegations from India.

Initiatives for Quality Tourism Manpower Development

A sum of Rs. 17.32 crore has been released for opening up of three
new Institutes of Hotel management, one each in Haryana,
Uttaranchal and Jharkhand. It has also been decided to open a new
institute of Hotel Management in Chattisgarh. In addition, funds
amounting to Rs. 37 crore were also sanctioned for upgradation of
building, construction of new campuses and procurement of modern
training aids for 20 institutes in the country. The capacity building
schemes for Service providers was launched in its revised form to
ensure quality tourism service providers through various training
programmes in public private partnership. More than 40,000 persons
were given training under this CBSP scheme. Training programmes
for Guides were also restructured and refresher courses were also
launched. Special training programmes for women service providers
were also designed.

Tourism Satellite Account

To give recognition to tourism as a source of income and employment
generator in the economy, a Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) has
been developed. This enables to quantify the benefits of tourism in
terms of its contribution to GDP and employment (both direct and
indirect impacts). India is among the few countries in the world to
develop TSA. The results of the TSA study show the contribution of
Tourism in GDP (both direct and indirect) as 5.90 per cent and the
share in employment both direct and indirect as 8.8 per cent.

WTTC and SATTE

The Government supported the World Travel & Tourism Council

(WTTC) annual summit in Delhi which attracted leading
investors/hotelier from across the world. Support was also given to
the South Asian Travel and Tourism Exchange (SATTE) in 2005, and
2006, in New Delhi, which were attended by Tour Operators, Travel
Agents from Australia, Canada, South Africa, Germany, Israel, UK
and the Latin American/Caribbean countries as delegates and also
buyers and sellers from overseas and within the country.

Boost to Domestic Tourism

The Government decided to recognise new category of Domestic

Tour Operators to give further boost to Domestic Tourism through
quality service and to ensure greater consumer satisfaction. India
Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) A radical turnaround
has been recorded in ITDC from a turnover of Rs.184 crore with a net
loss of over Rs.37 crore in 2001-02, to a turnover of Rs.379.78 crore
with a net profit of Rs.39.03 crore in 2005-06. This includes total
turnaround in flagship Ashok Hotel from a turnover of Rs.35 crore
(Net loss of Rs.15.09 crore) in 2001-02 to a turnover of Rs.93.03
crore (net profit of Rs.26.29 crore approx.) in 2005-06.
ONIDA the brand and its strategy

Born: 1981

History: Owned by Mirc Electronics Ltd

Status: The most recognizable home-grown brand in the highly

competitive consumer electronics industry dominated by Korean
chaebols such as LG and Samsung.

Brand story: Onida is a brand best remembered for its unique

mascot—the green devil with horns, long nails and spiky tail slithering
across television screens. The tag line, Neighbour’s Envy, Owner’s
Pride, was as catchy as the mascot. The devil turned out to be an
angel in disguise—his mischievous message stood the brand in good
stead in times that saw many of its rivals capitulate under market
pressure.

For, Onida, too, was a victim of liberalization: Korean heavyweights

such as LG Electronics and Samsung came to India with aggressive
pricing and distribution strategies and conquered the consumer
electronics market. The older players, such as Mirc, Videocon and
BPL, couldn’t match their ability to scale up operations and cut prices
while playing the volumes game. Most companies went into the red.

Onida survived. “There was a great fear that all Indian companies will
be washed out with large MNCs (multinational companies) coming to
India. But, Onida had managed to build a strong connect with its
consumers and it re mained intact even in challenging times,” says
Gulu Mirchandani, chairman of Mirc Electronics. “We soon decided
that to stay ahead, we must make products that are not only globally
competitive but measure up to global standards of quality as well,” he
adds. The company continued to communicate its brand promise
through clutter-free advertising—and the irrepressible devil.
According to a study of brands by market research firm TNS Mode
released in September 2007, more than 78% of those surveyed could
recall the devil, and connect it with the Onida brand. The times
remain challenging, but the devil and his antics have built a strong
equity among consumers.
Brand Lifebuoy

Born: 1895

History: Owned by Unilever Plc., the parent company of Hindustan

Unilever Ltd

Status: Has 18% market share in the bathing soaps category, worth
Rs6,000 crore.

Brand story: Lifebuoy landed on Indian shores in 1895, when the

country was in the grip of a plague epidemic.

With its positioning as a powerful germicidal and disinfectant, and with a

strong carbolic smell, it was what the nation was looking for. But the health
advantage waned over time as competitors came out with soaps that
promised both health and beauty.

The 1970s were challenging times for the brand, especially in the rural
markets, its mainstay. “The biggest challenge was to break the mould and do
clutter-breaking advertising,” says Manoj Tapadia, creative director at Lowe
India, the ad vertising agency for Lifebuoy.

It was around 2002 that the product moved from being a hard soap to a mild
soap that delivered a significantly superior bathing experience. The new
soap had a refreshing fragrance and its overall positioning changed, painting
its promise of health in softer, more versatile and responsible hues—for the
entire family.

The packaging was also changed: The rugged looking packs were soon
replaced with a softer pinkish cover. This was followed by a series of ads
highlighting the soap’s germfighting benefits.

Lifebuoy had become a family soap with hygiene as its core promise. “For a
soap that had been relegated to toilets, Lifebuoy has gathered new adherents
in an age where more consumers are getting concerned about germs and
cleanliness,” says Arvind Sahay, professor of marketing at the Indian
Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

“Lifebuoy has 112 years of existence in India and has constantly

reinvigorated itself.

In the last five years, it has touched nearly 100 million Indians across 44,000
villages,” says Srikanth Srinivasamadhavan, category head, personal wash,
HUL.

Right from the early days, the brand has preferred effective
communication to celebrities. An exception is its recent, limited exposure
campaign with cricketer Yuvraj Singh.