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Sustained creativity needed to keep tourism vibrant: ExpertsAt a time when the tourism sector is feeling the heat of the global slowdown, a sustained infusion of creative ideas is required to keep the industry vibrant, according to experts.
Participating at a conference titled ‘Strategies to beat slowdown in tourism sector’ organized by the Times Group and Kerala Tourism, experts said a constant flow of ideas was required to take the industry forward.
“Tourism products have a fatigue aspect, and even a superbrand like Kerala Tourism has to ensure that there are fresh features to the overall brand to sustain it in a dynamic world”, said PK Mohankumar, COO of Gateway Hotels, part of IHCL.
He said it was important, particularly for a state like Kerala, to recognize that tourism was not a means of livelihood for only a certain section of the people, but appreciate its strategic importance to the state’s economy.
Prem Subramaniam, advisor-CSR of Infrastructure Development Finance Company said inspiration for domestic tourism could come from diverse sources, like the painting holidays in Cambridge, the manner in which New Zealand highlights its stunning natural beauty, or some destinations promoting themselves as highly-sought after wedding locales. He said the industry had to develop fresh thinking, and that it would do the sector no good in constantly complaining about the poor state of infrastructure.
A Jayathilak, executive director of Jalanidhi and former managing director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, said even amidst the perceived slowdown, domestic spending on gold or liquor had hardly been affected, pointing to continued buoyancy in spending habits. He said that in the tourism industry’s quest to reach out to global markets, the potential of domestic tourists and NRIs may have been overlooked.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts regional director (revenue management) for India, Bangladesh and Maldives, Devdutta Banerjee said the traditional response of cutting tariffs was not the ideal manner in which to deal with a setback. “The industry is putting up ‘Sale’ boards, in the lines of some retail shop, forgetting that we are selling an experience. The industry needs to ask itself whether it was selling a cheap destination, when it cut tariffs”, he said.
Tourism players participating in the event confirmed that they were enduring tough times, and that issues like the bad impression created on arrival of tourists at the airport was among the different problems plaguing the industry.
Mr Jayathilak said many of the tourism sector’s problems and their ideal solutions were known to the industry players, and that the problem was that these issues were addressed only in fits and starts without a sustained effort.
