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UK rolls out red carpet for Indian tourists
by Mike Lockey

     London: Tourist authorities in Britain have announced a new initiative to encourage as many as possible of the rapidly expanding Indian middle class travellers to visit the country. In fact, India has been identified as a key market for tourism to Britain, not very surprising really, given the long history and many ties between the two countries. But, now, India has become one of Asia's fastest growing economies and that tends to mean that more people have larger disposable incomes. So, VisitBritain aims to highlight those centuries old cultural ties and it is going to do this by, effectively, concentrating on curry, cinema and cricket.

    According to Bernard Donoghue, head of public affairs at VisitBritain: "Britain is currently number six in the league of outbound visitors' from India. But we think that there is much more scope to exploit that market, not least because by 2050 India will be the world's third largest economy behind China and the USA". Donoghue went on to explain the thinking behind the curry, cricket and cinema idea: "The number one British dish is curry and in the country we have over 8,500 curry restaurants". Donoghue was not asked what had happened to roast beef and Yorkshire pudding as Britain's number one dish, nor was he reminded that a great proportion of those "Indian" restaurants are owned and run by Bangladeshis. But, never mind, the idea is surely sound. He went on to say: "Cricket is another shared link and cinema, in terms of Bollywood, has great potential to encourage Indian travellers to visit Britain, since many films are shot in the picturesque parts of this country".

    In 2004, the last year for which figures are available, there were over a quarter of a million Indian visitors to Britain and they spent in the region of #240 million. Now, given that there are some 225 million middle class households in India, there is clearly room for a great deal more growth in tourism. The ace in the hole in all of this may well be the 2012 Olympic Games in London, because the Commonwealth Games, to be held two years earlier than that in India, are sure to arouse enormous interest in all things athletic. As Bernard Donoghue said: We expect a lot of Indian visitors in the run-up to the Olympics to see some of the sports cathedrals like Lords, the Oval and Wimbledon and the growth will be fuelled by additional flights and routes that are being created at a rapid pace between India and Britain".
-Feb 24, 2006

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