Not just an eastern promise
Renuka Chowdhury, India's tourism minister, talks about her country's rich natural and cultural assets like someone who has just returned from a holiday: “It is so phenomenally mind-blowing. I cannot tell you how fabulous it is.”
She is referring to the United Nations World Heritage-listed ruins of Hampi, in south India. But the remote 14th-century site which is being used as an exotic set for The Myth, a Jackie Chan movie due for release next year attracts few visitors.
“There is poor marketing,” Mrs Chowdhury says, speaking in her wood-panelled ministerial office in New Delhi. “Better connectivity is required. We need to get short-haul aircraft to fly there.”
By world tourism standards, India might as well be Hampi. Despite the country's 1bn-strong population and the geographical diversity of the sub-continent, India draws about 3m tourists a year less then 1 per cent of global tourist traffic. Each year, more Indians travel abroad than foreigners travel to India. India is trying to raise its profile. Its Incredible India advertising campaign, launched in 2002, has portrayed striking images of the country from yoga in the Himalayas to luxury spas and the Hindu erotica epitomised by the 4th century Kamasutra. The Rs900m (￡10.7m) campaign, mainly targeting Europeans and Americans, has helped increase tourist numbers by almost a third to September this year. Good publicity has also helped. Condé Nast Traveller recently ranked India sixth among the top 10 tourist destinations for 2004.
Now, with India's peak tourist season underway, the government plans to expand its campaign to countries such as Spain, China and South Korea. “India is the flavour of the century,” Mrs Chowdhury says.
The question, however, is how India's government will satisfy the heightened expectations set by its advertising campaign, especially for a country where sound policies often falter when they come to be implemented.
The first problem is that under India's federal system, tourism comes under the control of state governments. New Delhi blames them for failing to address the problems caused by poor infrastructure, sanitation and hygiene, and the inadequate maintenance of historical monuments. In Udaipur, famous for the lake palace featured in the James Bond film Octopussy, the main lake is drying out. The Rajasthan state government's poor water management, deforestation and a drought are turning the fabled Lake Pichola into a dustbowl.
Even among states with good intentions, execution sometimes goes awry. Take Delhi's tourist police, newly deployed to safeguard foreign travellers. One Spanish tourist, Mercè Cus”, arrived in Delhi after a 14-hour flight from Barcelona and met her tour guide. But she was soon stopped by a tourist police officer who repeatedly questioned whether she trusted her guide. “I thought maybe he wanted some money to let us go,” recalls Ms Cus”. “After some more minutes when we began to feel really uncomfortable, he decided to stop asking anything else, said ‘it's ok' and wished us a nice trip in India.” But the main problem for India's 28 state governments is financial. Most are mired in debt and say they cannot divert scarce funds for providing water, health, education and other basic services, to tourism. In response, New Delhi says that investment in travel and tourism creates jobs for local communities. The industry already offers livelihoods for up to 49m people, perhaps the largest number in the world. The government wants to create more than 3m new jobs in the industry each year.
Most observers think that achieving this requires more investment in infrastructure at leading tourist destinations. “I've asked for roads to all World Heritage sites and to Buddhist sites,” Mrs Chowdhury says. “It would be foolish if we do not build up our infrastructure.”
Of course, if funds followed every speech in India about infrastructure, the country would be transformed overnight. India spends just $2bn (￡1.08bn) a year on roads compared with $30bn spent in China. Its ailing railways and airports need huge investments to handle more travellers.
Indeed, India is already struggling to cope. Tourists arriving in New Delhi over the next few months will find most large hotels full to bursting. Industry estimates suggest that there are only 92,000 hotel rooms against demand for more than 120,000. There are several hundred thousand more rooms in small guest houses and backpacker lodgings, but few of these meet the quality standards expected by most package tourists.
“The pinch is being felt because (tourist) growth has come suddenly,” says Shyam Suri, secretary-general of the Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India. “Over the next five to ten years, India needs 100,000 more hotel rooms.”
Foreign investors could help to provide funds to expand hotels, which are open to 100 per cent foreign equity. But investors must first overcome messy land titles. More promising are the reforms to India's airports. Significant upgrades of the Delhi and Mumbai terminals are to begin after March next year, which could ease congestion for travellers. Another 22 rural airports are also going to be overhauled over the next five years, says Praful Patel, civil aviation minister.
As rural connections expand, the government hopes it will open up India's hinterland to more tourists. There are signs that this is happening. Indian domestic aviation is undergoing something of a growth spurt. Local air travel grew 11 per cent from 43m passengers to 48m in the year to July 2004. Cheap air fares have helped drive the growth, and competition is likely to keep air fares low as three new budget carriers enter the fray over the next year.
With more regional short-haul air capacity, tourists can bypass shoddy rural roads and slash hours off travel time. In another plan to broaden rural tourism, Mrs Chowdhury wants to unravel travel bans in Kashmir and in parts of India's lush but insurgency-prone north-eastern states. But she must first overcome security hawks in the cabinet, whose views dominate how New Delhi has governed its remote border provinces.
Whatever jewels lie in India's interior, they would still have to attract the kind of tourists who already come to India. The Incredible India campaign has drawn more and more wealthy travellers, says Amitabh Kant, chairman of the India Tourism Development Corporation, a government agency. “I'm not a great believer in the numbers game,” he says. “What is happening is that value is going up much higher than the numbers.” Catering to the tastes of wealthier tourists has spawned the growth of luxury hotels. Some, such as Udaivilas in the desert state of Rajasthan, charge up to Rs95,000 a night for its best suites. Most of these hotels are located far from India's teeming capitals. Their isolation in the deserts, hills and jungles poses a sharp contrast to the crowds, pollution and squalor of the cities. Staying there is like being in a luxury spa in any other part of the world raising the perennial question about whether they represent “the real India”.
Patrick Horton, a travel writer and contributor to several Lonely Planet guide books, says: “The whole essence of India is getting out of the air-conditioned coach.” But he adds that some foreigners still fear that India “is all about poverty and the Taj Mahal”.
The Incredible India campaign may be helping to change these perceptions. But the government is facing a tough assignment: working out how to handle the expectations of the growing number of tourists.
并不只是一个东方许诺
印度旅游部长雷努卡?乔杜里(Renuka Chowdhury)谈论她国家丰富的自然和文化资产时，就好像她是个刚从印度度假回来的人：“印度让人兴奋极了，我无法告诉你它有多么不可思议。”
她说的是印度南部的亨比(Hampi)遗址，该地收在联合国世界遗产名录中。成龙(Jackie Chan)明年将发布的电影《惊天传奇》(The Myth)正以该地为异国背景。但这片偏远的14世纪遗址吸引的游客寥寥无几。
“市场营销糟糕，”乔杜里女士在位于新德里、木板拼嵌的部长办公室里说道，“需要改善交通，我们要有能飞往那里的短途飞机。”
以世界旅游业标准衡量，印度可能就像亨比（Hampi）。尽管印度人口达10亿之众，且有着次大陆的地理多样性，但印度每年只吸引约300万名客，还不到全球游客流量的1%。每年出国旅游的印度人要比来印度旅游的外国人多。印度正设法提升其形象。2002年，印度推出“天哪！印度”(Incredible India)广告推广，描述了该国一些令人叹为观止的景象，从喜马拉雅山上的瑜珈，到奢华的温泉疗养地(spa)，还有以四世纪《爱经》(Kamasutra)为代表的印度情色文学。这一耗资9亿卢比（合1070万英镑）的推广活动主要瞄准欧洲人和美国人，令至今年9月的游客人数增加了近三分之一。良好的形象推广也有裨益。旅行者杂志(Condé Nast Traveller)最近将印度排在2004年10大旅游地的第6位。
由于现在正值印度旅游旺季，因此政府计划将其推广活动扩大到西班牙、中国和韩国等国。“印度是世纪之风尚，”乔杜里女士表示。
但问题在于，广告推广令人们对印度的期望提高，而印度政府将如何来满足这些期望呢？尤其在印度这个国家，合理的政策一旦付诸实施就常会难以推进。
第一个问题是，根据印度的联邦体制，旅游业处于各邦政府的控制之下。印度政府指责这些邦政府，称它们未能解决由糟糕的基础设施和卫生条件，以及对历史遗迹维护不善所致的种种问题。詹姆斯?邦德(James Bond)影片《铁金刚勇破爆炸党》(Octopussy)中显赫的“湖上皇宫”令乌代普尔闻名于世，但在那里，这个大湖正在干涸。由于拉贾斯坦邦政府水治理不善、乱伐森林，加之出现干旱，使著名的皮秋拉湖(Lake Pichola)正变成一片旱地。
即使是一些动机良好的邦，执行政策有时也会走样。以德里的旅游警察为例，安排这些新警察是为了保护外国游客。一位西班牙游客梅尔赛?库斯(Merce Cus)从巴赛罗纳出发，坐了14个小时飞机后抵达德里，与她的导游碰头。但她很快被一名旅游警察拦住，反复询问她是否信赖自己的导游。“我以为他可能想要些钱，才肯放我们走，”库斯女士回忆说，“又过了几分钟，我们开始感到非常不快，他决定不再问其它任何问题，说‘可以了’，然后祝我们在印度旅行愉快。”但对于印度28个邦政府来说，主要问题是财政。多数邦政府已陷入债务泥沼，并表示，它们无法将用于供水、医疗、教育和其它基础服务的有限资金转投到旅游业上。印度政府回应说，投资于旅游观光业能为当地创造就业。这一产业已为印度多达4900万人提供了生计，这个数字在世界各国中也许是最多的。印度政府希望，每年能在旅游业创造300万以上的新工作岗位。
大多数观察家认为，要达到这个目标，就需要对主要旅游目的地的基础设施进一步投资。“我要求建设通往所有世界遗产地点和佛教圣地的道路，”乔杜里女士说，“如果我们不增强基础设施，那是很愚蠢的。”
当然，如果在印度每次就建设基础设施发表演说后，资金都会随之而来，那么该国将在一夜间焕然一新。但是，印度每年在公路上的支出仅为20亿美元（合10.8亿英镑），与之相比，中国的相应支出为300亿美元。印度残破的铁路和机场需要巨额投资，才能接待更多游客。
事实上，印度已开始竭尽全力应付这个问题。未来几个月中，到新德里的游客会发现，多数大型酒店都将爆满。行业预测显示，目前仅有9.2万个酒店房间，而需求超过12万个。另外在小旅馆和背包族旅社还有几十万个房间，但其中没有几家能达到多数组团旅行者期望的质量标准。
“由于（游客）突然增多，已经感到有些难支，”印度宾馆饭店业联合会(Federation of Hotels and Restaurant Associations of India)秘书长西亚姆?苏里(Shyam Suri)说，“在今后5至10年间，印度还需要增加10万个酒店房间。”
外国投资者可以帮助提供资金增建酒店，印度酒店业可以100%外资控股。但投资者必须首先克服棘手的土地所有权问题。印度机场的改造比较有希望。德里和孟买机场将在明年3月份后开始大规模升级改造，这将缓解旅客的拥挤状况。民航部长普拉弗尔?帕特尔(Praful Patel)表示，在今后5年中，另外22个远郊机场也将得到全面整修。
随着农村交通网的扩张，印度政府希望向更多游客开放内陆地区。众多迹象表明，这样的情形正在发生。印度国内航空业正飞速增长。在截至2004年7月的一年中，国内航空旅客增加了11%，从4300万人次增长到4800万人次。廉价机票的供应推动了这一增长趋势。由于明年将有3家廉价航空公司加入战团，因此竞争可能会使机票价格保持低位。
随着地区间短途飞行运量的增加，旅游者可以避开破旧的乡间道路，并大大缩短旅行时间。乔杜里女士还提出另一项拓展乡村旅行的计划，打算在克什米尔地区和印度东北地区部分繁荣但易动乱的邦，放开旅游禁令。但她首先得说服内阁中负责安全事务的鹰派人士，这些人的观点主导着印度政府如何管辖其偏远边境的省份。
无论印度国内有多少瑰宝，都有待去吸引那些已经到过印度的人。政府机构印度旅游发展公司(India Tourism Development Corporation)的董事长阿米塔布?康德(Amitabh Kant)表示，“天哪！印度”活动已引来越来越多富裕的旅行者。“我并不非常相信数字游戏，”康德说，“正发生的情况是，价值增长大大高于数字的增长。”为迎合富有旅行者的喜好，印度的豪华酒店与日俱增。一些酒店最好的套间收费高达9.5万卢比，例如在沙漠之邦拉贾斯坦的Udaivilas。大多数这类酒店都远离人口稠密的印度首都和省会。它们位置偏僻，座落在沙漠、山地和丛林之中，与城市的拥挤、污染和破败形成鲜明的对比。如果住进那些酒店，就像是置身于世界任何其它地方的豪华温泉疗养地，而且不断有人会问，这些酒店是否代表“真实的印度”？
游记作家帕特里克?豪顿(Patrick Horton)说：“印度的所有精髓是在空调车厢外。”但他补充说，一些外国人仍然担心，印度“只有贫困和泰姬陵(Taj Mahal)”。豪顿为孤独行星出版社(Lonely Planet)的几本旅游指南供稿。
“天哪！印度”活动或许将帮助游客改变上述看法。但印度政府正面临一个艰巨的任务：怎样应对日益增多的游客的期望。
