UNIT 11 SOUTH ASIA

Structure
11.0 Objectives
11.1 Introduction
11.2 The South Asian Inbound Tourism
11.2.1 Growth Trends by Major Source Markets
11.2.2 International Tourist Arrivals from Europe to South Asia
11.2.3 Major Tourism Generating Markets for this Region
11.2.4 Points to Ponder
11.3 Profile of Travellers from South Asia
11.4 India as a Destination
11.5 Gauging the Markets
11.6 Let Us Sum Up
11.7 Clues to Answers

11.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit you will be able to:
• discuss the different characteristics of the South Asian Tourism Market,
• understand the outbound market of these countries,
• distinguish and segment the tourists coming to India from these countries, and
• define and understand the current and future trends and prospects of South Asian
Travel Sector.

11.1 INTRODUCTION
The Asian tourism market is showing a rapid growth rate. Asian countries are coming
up as much sought after destinations as the mystic and magic of the east is calling the
tourists like never before. In this Unit, we will be dealing with the South Asian
tourism market in segments. South Asia as a region has shown a healthy growth rate
of 8.3% in receipts from all regions between 1999/98.

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 14.00% Figure I: Per Cent Change in Global Tourism Receipts by Region of Destination, 1999/98
% change over previous year 12.20%
12.00%

10.00%

8.30%

8.00%

6.00%
5.20%

4.40%

4.00% 3.40%

2.70%

2.00%

0.60%

0.00%

Africa Americas East Europe Middle East South Asia WORLD

Asia/Pacific
Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO)

South Asia also showed a small in Global Tourist arrivals by Regions between
200/99, decreasing to 19.0% from 10.7% growth rate in 1999/98.
Figure II: Pe r Ce nt Change in Global Tourist Arrivals by Re gion of De stination, 2000/1999
% change over previous year
1 6 .0 0 %
1 4 .5 0 %

1 4 .0 0 %

1 2 .0 0 %

1 0 .2 0 %
1 0 .0 0 %
9 .0 0 %

8 .0 0 % 7 .4 0 %
6 .5 0 %

6 .0 0 % 5 .2 0 %

4 .0 0 %

2 .0 0 % 1 .5 0 %

0 .0 0 %

Africa Americas East Europe Middle East South Aisa WORLD

Asia/Pacific
Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO)

Considering the product and expected growth rate of Tourism Market in the South
Asian Market, it becomes imperative that we discuss this market and its significance
in context of the Indian Tourism Sector.

11.2 THE SOUTH ASIAN INBOUND TOURISM

The South Asian tourism is more of an intra-regional thing than global.
Intra-South Asia tourist flows accounted for 26 per cent of total arrivals in the region
in 1997. This is a considerable loss in market share compared to the 32 per cent of
1988. Barring statistical deficiencies, these figures areas reflect the sluggish Indian
outbound market during the last years.

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Europe-South Asia tourist flows amounted to over 2 million in 1997, an average
annual increase of over 7 per cent between 1988 and 1997. Arrivals from Europe
represented 43 per cent of total arrivals in South Asia in 1997. The bulk of the
increase accounted during the 1980s when arrivals rose by 55 per cent (or an average
growth of 3.7 per cent a year).

11.2.1 Growth Trends by Major Source Markets

The growth of European tourism to the region in the 1980s is attributable in part to
much lower real fares (making the countries of the region more “price accessible” to
Europeans long haul holiday makers) and partly to the rising significance of the
region in international trade (which has generated substantially extra business tourist
volumes for Europe). Travel for visiting friends and relatives by European residents
of ethnic origin in the region is also a strong contribution to the growth in Europe-
South Asia tourism.
East Asia/Pacific-South Asia tourist flows grew steadily during the 1990s. There was
a 7 per cent fall in 1991 (as a consequence of the Gulf war) but a renewal of growth
since 1993. East Asia and the Pacific countries had the highest growth of all
generating regions.
There has been a continuous emigration over several generations from the countries
of the Indian sub-continent, principally for economic reasons. In consequence, there
are large communities of ethnic origin from the region in all parts of the world, with
particular concentration in Europe (principally the United Kingdom), North America
(Canada), Eastern Africa, South-eastern Asia and Australia. The growing affluence of
these communities, combined with the strong “ethnic” ties which characterises the
people of the Indian sub-continent, will stimulate rising flows of tourists “back to the
homeland”, i.e., first generation migrants and overseas born people of the South
Asian region visiting their families origins or “roots”.
Arrivals from the Americas (essentially from the United States) also increased
substantially between 1988 and 1997, improving also the market share of the region
during that period.

Table 1: South Asia Growth Trends by Major Source Markets

Destinations Tourist arrivals in Average annual Market share % of
South Asia (000) growth rate (%) world total in South
1988-1997 Asia
1988 1997 1988 1997
Intra-Regional 924 1,201 3.0 32.4 25.8
Europe 1,083 2,001 7.1 37.9 43.1
East Asia/Pacific 336 643 7.5 11.8 13.8
Americas 259 480 7.1 9.1 10.3
Other Regions 253 322 2.7 8.9 6.9
Total South Asia 2,855 4,648 5.6 100.0 100.0

11.2.2 International Tourist Arrivals from Europe to South Asia

European arrivals in South Asia have done well in recent years, with over 2 million in
1997, compared with 1,083,000 in 1988, retaining its market share at around the 43
per cent level. Steady growth of travel to India has continued. The Maldives tourism
continues to grow rapidly with 218,000 Europeans in 1997. Bangladesh attracts few
European vacation tourists, except those with family connections from the United
Kingdom. Pakistan (148,000) is in a parallel situation. Sri Lanka (273,000) still
attracts substantial vacation tourism, despite its internal problems, and Nepal remains
a popular destination with Europeans, with 140,000 in 1997.

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Table 2: International Tourist Arrivals from Europe in the Various Countries of South
Asia
Tourist arrivals Average annual Market share % of
Destinations from Europe (000) growth rate (%) total arrivals

1988 1997 1997/88 1988 1997

India 577 899 5.0 53.3 44.9

Sri Lanka 119 273 9.6 11.0 13.6
Maldives 115 218 7.4 10.6 10.9
Pakistan 102 148 4.2 9.5 7.4
Nepal 134 140 0.5 13.4 7.0
Bangladesh 19 48 10.8 1.8 2.4

Sub-total 1,067 1,272 5.5 98.5 86.3

Total South Asia 1,083 2,001 7.1 100.0 100.0

11.2.3 Major Tourism Generating Markets for This Region

In 1996, there were 27 countries whose residents spent US$ 1 billion or more on
international travel and tourism – excluding transportation. Of these, 16 were from
Europe, two from North America, two from Latin America and seven from east Asia
and the Pacific.
The top five countries, in terms of travel and tourism spending, were (in order)
Germany, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France. The top three
generated between them 31.5 per cent of all international tourism receipts worldwide.
Singapore accounted for the highest spending on a per capita basis in 1996 – US$
2,026 – followed by Austria, Switzerland and Norway.
Table 3: Leading Generators of International Tourism, 1996
Total Amounts Spent Population Average Spending Per
COUNTRY on Travel Abroad 1996 Capita

Min US$ Rank (Million) US$ Rank

EUROPE

Germany 50,815 1 82.05 619 9

United Kingdom 25,445 4 58.68 434 11

France 17,746 5 58.26 305 15

Italy 15,516 6 57.23 271 18

Austria 11,811 7 8.07 1,464 2

Netherlands 11,370 8 15.53 732 7

Russian Federation 10,723 10 147.73 73 23

Belgium 9,895 11 10.16 974 5

Switzerland 7,479 12 7.08 1,056 3

Sweden 6,441 15 8.86 727 8

Poland 6,240 16 38.70 161 20

Spain 4,916 20 39.24 125 22

Norway 4,509 21 4.37 1,032 4

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 Denmark 4,142 24 5.23 792 6

Israel 3,304 26 5.61 589 10

Finland 2,223 27 5.13 433 12

AMERICAS

United States 48,739 2 265.58 184 19

Canada 11,090 9 29.83 372 13

Brazil 5,825 18 161.23 36 25

Mexico 3,387 25 93.42 36 26

EAST ASIA &

PACIFIC

Japan 37,040 3 125.54 295 17

Korea, Republic of 6,963 13 45.25 154 21

Taiwan 6,493 14 21.30 305 14

Singapore 6,139 17 3.03 2,026 1

Australia 5,322 19 18.23 292 16

China 4,474 22 1,221.29 4 27

Thailand 4,171 23 58.70 71 24

11.2.4 Points to Ponder

Official figures on outbound travel and spending need to be interpreted with caution
as many countries’ national measurement systems are inadequate to monitor these
trends.
This means that in a number of cases, the only way of tracking outbound travel and
tourism movements is by counting arrivals at destination. But these are inevitably
overstated as tourists frequently visit more than one destination per trip.
Moreover, a tourist stopping over a China, Hong Kong SAR, say, on his or her way
into and out of China, would also be counted twice in China, Hong Kong SAR. The
distortions are exacerbated by the fact that some countries count arrivals by
nationality rather than residence.
What this all means is that in order to gain a more accurate assessment of outbound
travel volumes and trends, national tourism administrations are increasingly relying
on sample surveys to supplement their databases. These sample surveys are primarily
the domain of the private sector, although there are increasing examples of joint
public-private sector efforts.
Outbound travel data is better able to provide the travel characteristic and patterns of
different markets. Inbound data cannot provide the level of trip taking in a specific
market – the proportion of the population travelling abroad – nor trip frequency – the
number of trips taken in any year by these travellers.
Outbound surveys can provide a structural breakdown of the market, identifying the
importance of package holiday travel, say, or the number of destinations covered in
one trip. They are also much more reliable as far as identifying the business travel
sector is concerned.

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11.3 PROFILE OF TRAVELLERS FROM SOUTH ASIA
In the previous section you have seen the tourism generating markets for South Asia
and now you have a general idea of the South Asian Travel Industry scenario. The
details in the Section are based on the 1998 WTO Report. Much of the South Asian
tourism is intra-regional, i.e., from Asia itself. According to WTO Report of 1998,
intra-regional travel forms a considerable chunk of South Asia Travel circuit.
Consider the pie diagram below:
Figure III: Origin of Tourist Flows

International National

83%

17%
1980

70%

30%
1990

68%

32%
2010

70%

30%
2000

The diagram clearly shows that intra-regional travel forms a considerable chunk of
the tourist flow. Now check the graph below:

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 Figure IV: Average Annual Growth Rate (% ) 1990-2000

7.2

6 6 6.1 6.1 6.2

3.9

Americas Africa Middle East Overall South Asia Europe East

Asia/Pacific

The average annual growth rate over the years in South Asia shows maximum
tourists originating from East Asia Pacific but South Asia as an origin of tourist flow
is not far behind. Tourist originating from South Asia is ranked third considering the
fact that both third and first position for origin of tourist to South Asia are Asian
Region we can understand the concept of great leaps in intra-regional travel.
Lets now consider the forecasts of arrivals of tourist’s intra from South Asia by
destination.

Year Long Haul (a) Intra-regional Total % Intra-

(mn) (mn) (mn) regional of
Total
1990 2.61 0.94 3.55 26.5
1995 3.31 1.21 4.52 26.8
2000 4.47 1.70 6.37 27.6
2010 7.21 3.33 10.54 31.6
Average annual growth rate (% pa)
1990-2000 5.5 6.125 5.68
2000-2010 4.9 7.0 5.5
Source: WTO Note: (a) Long haul defined as everything except intra-
regional travel.

The intra-regional travel exists in great strength in South Asia. The intra-regional
travel holds a place of prominence in the South Asia Travel current, especially since
it promotes intra-regional tourism. It now becomes necessary for the tourism
professionals to know more about the tourists from Asian countries. The State of
tourism in a few prominent Asian countries follows:
1) Japan
Despite a slowdown in outbound travel growth in the early-1990s, the Japanese
market averaged an annual growth of 11.6 per cent from 1986 to 1995. And it has
not looked back since 1993. 1996 saw an increase of 9.2 per cent to 16.7 million,
according to Japan Travel Bureau (JTB), the country’s largest travel retailer and
wholesaler. Japan expenditure on travel overseas has also increased by 19.8 per
cent to US$ 36.8 billion.
Other factors boosting demand – or likely to boost demand further in the short
term –included the revision of travel agency laws in April 1996, which resulted in
an additional 80 per cent of domestic travel agencies selling international travel.
In theory, this would increase five-fold the number of agencies selling
international travel to 6,500.

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 However, the much cited single ladies’ traffic from Japan may fall. Researchers
have found that the average monthly spend by single women in their 20s in 1995
was US$ 1,548 (162,528), or a decline in real terms of 3 per cent over 1994 – and
the first even decline from this sector of the market.

2) Taiwan
Although several restrictions on outbound travel from Taiwan remained after the
government first allowed its citizens to travel abroad for leisure purposes in 1979,
these have since more or less disappeared. The government has taken a much
more liberal attitude on international travel by its citizens, partly in order to ease
the country’s huge foreign exchange reserves and annual trading surpluses.
East Asia accounted for close to 79 per cent of all arrivals from Taiwan
worldwide in 1996, with China, Hong Kong SAR – the market’s favourite
destination – generating 37 per cent. These figures suggest that the residents of
Taiwan were in 1996 the third biggest spenders from East Asia and the Pacific,
after Japan and the Republic of Korea, accounting for an expenditure abroad of
US$ 6.5 billion.

3) China
China outbound travel grew by 11.6 per cent in 1996 and averaged 26 per cent
growth a year during the period 1987-1996. Total tourism spending by Chinese
abroad amounted to US$ 4.5 billion in 1996 (21.3 per cent over 1995’s level).
The leading destinations for Chinese tourists in 1996, in terms of arrivals, were
China, Hong Kong SAR with 2.3 million, Macao (539,919) and Thailand
(456,912). The China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao counts are, nevertheless,
overstated since much of the traffic through these two points is stopover traffic en
route to and from final destinations.

4) Republic of Korea
South Korea quickly became the fifth largest tourist producing country in
Asia/Pacific after its government lifted all age restriction imposed on its
travelling citizens from the beginning of 1989. Growth continued, taking Korea
past Australia, and then past China, Hong Kong SAR in 1994 to become the third
largest producer in the region.
In the five years from 1990, average annual growth in outbound trips was 15.6
per cent. However, expenditure per head weakened after the initial pent-up
demand from South Korea’s increasingly prosperous middle class for foreign
bought items had been satisfied. Per capita spend was US$ 1,400 in 1994 – down
from US$ 2,145 in 1989.
In 1995, around 40 per cent of all travel was for leisure purposes. Most travel is
still to Asian destinations but there has been a steady growth in long haul.
Australia and Europe rank at the top of Koreans destination wish list.
In mid-1995, the South Korea government announced that it was planning to
introduce la tax on outbound tourists. The plan was to charge each departing
leisure traveller 20,000-30,000 won (US$ 25 – US$ 37) as a “tourism fund fee” –
payable in addition to the 9,000 won airport departure tax – to pays for overseas
promotions for Korea.

11.4 INDIA AS A DESTINATION

India is one of the favourite destinations in South Asia. It alone absorbed more than
half the tourist traffic coming to South Asia in 1997. According to WTO report, India
has 2.4 million arrivals in 1997, more than half-total arrivals in the region.

146
India also takes the lion’s share of tourism receipts in the region.
India has shown a steady growth rate over the later decade. One out of every two
tourists travelling to South Asia visit India and this is the destination where they stay
longer. International tourist arrivals and receipt is given in Table 6.
Table 4: Top Five Tourism Destinations in South Asia International tourist arrivals
(excluding same-day visitors) (thousands of arrivals) – 1997
Rank Country Arrivals (000) % change % of total
1997 1997/96 1997
1985 1997
1 1 INDIA 2,374 3.8 51.1
7 2 IRAN 580 2.3 13.5
4 3 NEPAL 418 6.1 9.0
3 4 SRI LANKA 366 21.2 7.9
6 4 MALDIVES 366 8.0 7.9
TOTAL 1-5 4,104 5.5 88.3
TOTAL SOUTH 4,648 4.8 100.0
ASIA
Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO) (Data as collected in WTO database October 2000)

Table 5: Top Five Tourism Earners in South Asia International tourism receipts
(excluding transport) (US$ million) – 1997
Rank Country Receipts (mn % change % of total
US$) - 1997 1997/96 1997
1985 1997
1 1 INDIA 3,152 6.4 74.5
5 2 MALDIVES 287 7.9 6.8
6 3 IRAN 248 1.6 5.9
3 4 SRI LANKA 212 22.5 5.0
4 5 NEPAL 164 1.9 3.9
TOTAL 1-5 4,063 6.7 96.1
TOTAL SOUTH 4,229 5.9 100.0
ASIA
Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO) (Data as collected in WTO database October 2000)

Table 6: International Tourist Arrivals and Tourism Receipts by Country of Destination

International Tourist Arrivals International Tourism Receipts
(1000) Market Share Growth rate (US$ million) Market Share Growth Rate
in the Region (%) in the Region (%)
(%) (%)
1998 1999 1995 1999 1998/ 1999/ 1998 1999 1995 1998 1998/ 1999/
* * 97 98 * 97 98
South Asia 5,219 5,655 100 100 8.0 8.3 4,257 4,611 100 100 5.3 8.3
Afghanistan 4 0.1 0.0 1 0.0 0.0 0.0

Banglades 172 173 3.7 3.1 -5.5 0.6 51 50 0.7 1.2 -13.6 -2.0
h
Bhutan 6 7 0.1 0.1 20.0 16.7 8 9 0.1 0.2 33.3 13.5

India 2,359 2,482 50.6 43.9 -0.6 5.2 2,935 3,036 74.7 68.9 0.8 3.4
Iran 1,008 1,174 10.8 20.8 36.2 16.5 477 662 5.4 11.2 45.9 38.8

147
Maldives 396 430 7.5 7.6 8.2 8.6 303 334 6.0 7.1 5.9
Nepal 464 492 8.6 8.7 10.0 6.0 153 168 3.3 3.6 31.9

Pakistan 429 9.0 14.4 98 76 3.3 2.3 -16.2 -

Sri Lanka 381 436 9.6 7.7 4.1 14.4 231 275 6.4 5.4 6.9
Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO) (Data as collected in WTO
database October 2000)

Table 7: Tourist Arrivals in India by Main Markets of Origin, 1995-1997

(number of arrivals and percentage)
Number of Arrivals % Change
Origin Markets
1995 1996 1997 1996/95 1997/96

United Kingdom 334,827 360,686 370,567 7.7 2.7

Bangladesh 318,474 322,355 355,371 1.2 10.2

United States 203,343 228,829 244,239 13.5 6.7

Sri Lanka 114,157 107,351 122,080 -6.0 13.7

Germany 89,040 99,853 104,953 13.1 5.1

Japan 76,042 99,018 99,729 30.2 0.7

France 82,349 93,325 92,449 13.3 -0.9

Canada 63,821 74,031 78,570 16.0 6.1

Malaysia 50,039 53,370 60,401 6.7 13.2

Italy 53,015 49,910 53,854 -5.9 7.9

Singapore 48,632 47,136 52,004 -3.1 10.3

Australia 36,150 48,755 50,647 34.9 3.9

Pakistan 42,981 41,810 45,076 -2.7 7.8

Netherlands 40,147 40,246 44,843 0.2 11.4

Nepal 34,562 43,155

Switzerland 29,388 34,989 31,717 19.1 -9.4

Spain 24,411 24,419 22,903 0.0 -6.2

South Africa 18,750 19,328 22,218 3.1 15.0

Belgium 18,732 22,160 21,532 18.3 -2.8

Israel 14,805 18,387 20,162 24.2 9.7

United Arab 19,749 21,401 19,828 8.4 -7.4

Emirates

Sweden 19,013 21,192 19,772 11.5 -6.7

Kenya 17,389 19,248 18,993 10.7 -1.3

Russian 18,243
Federation

Thailand 14,462 16,188 16,494 11.9 1.9

Austria 13,114 17,084 16,369 30.3 -4.2

Oman 17,060 17,020 16,185 -0.2 -4.9

SUB-TOTAL 1,794,453 1,898,091 2,062,354 5.8 8.7

TOTAL INDIA 2,123,683 2,287,860 2,374,094 7.7 3.8

Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO)

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India ranks 34th among the world’s top 40 earners of tourism for the year 1997. Much
of India’s tourism earning is from intra-regional travel and from Tables 6 and 7 it is
clear that India is a popular destination in South Asia. A few positive and negative
events working for and against India as per the WTO Report are (Source: WTO Report):
1) Positive events

• Continuation of liberalisation policies,

• Better industry awareness about tourism,

• Development of new products and areas, e.g., Ayurvedic health resorts in

Kerala, adventure tourism in Himalayas and eco-tourism,

• Liberal Aviation policy on charters and private operators,

• Additional frequencies of international airlines,

• Introduction of more fast air-conditioned Tourist trains connecting tourist

centres,

• Commissioning of Konkan Railways from Mumbai to Mangalore,

• Formulation of focussed marketing strategies on the basis of market research,

• Participation in the major tourism and consumer fairs,

• Creation of a website on Indian Tourism in the Internet,

• Launching of Tourism Awareness campaign, and

• Celebration of Golden Jubilee Year of independence and India Tourism

Week.

2) Negative events

• Slowing down of industrial growth

• General elections
In spite of being a popular destination India needs to be marketed and promoted
properly to attract tourists. Among other factors the media image of political unrest in
some regions of India puts off global tourists. Many a times we promote one aspect
of our country completing overshadowing the other aspects. A fine balance needs to
be found as far as promotion is concerned but more importantly proper infrastructure
needs to be their to have repeat tourists/visitors, as well as to get word of mouth
promotion.

11.5 GAUGING THE MARKETS

South Asian Tourism market shows a lot of intra-regional tourist movement. Along
with economic recession, tourism industry also showed a slump, but now tourism is
picking up in the region. South Asia Market is as market with great potential.
Consider the graph below based on data collected by WTO and published in 1993.

149
 Average Annual Growth Rate (% ) 1990-2000

7.2

5.5

4.5
4 4

Africa Europe M iddle East Americas Overall East

Asia/Pacific

It shows the strength of tourists originating from South Asia. The graph observes the
number of tourist originating from South Asia, as well the annual growth rate. Based
on the many tables, graphs and data we can safely talk about the following trends in
the South Asian Region:
1) South Asia shows a lot of intra-regional travel.
2) India is a favoured destination both for intra as well as inter regional travel.
3) Political situation of a country, especially in the region, plays a vital role in
choosing the destination.
4) The tourists from the region like to travel for cultural tourism as well to find
ethnic roots.
5) The current trend is leading the growth in intra-regional travel.
South Asian Region has shown an increase in the International Tourist Arrivals. And
the projection by WTO show there’s more increase in store for the future.

Table 8: International Tourist Arrivals by Region (million)

Growth Average Annu

rate (%) Growth (%)
1985 1990 1995 1997 1998 1999*
1999/98
1985-99 1995

World 327.1 457.2 565.4 618.2 636.6 664.4 4.4 5.2

Africa 9.7 15.0 20.2 23.2 24.9 26.9 7.8 7.5

Americas 64.3 92.8 108.9 116.6 119.9 122.9 2.4 4.7

East Asia/Pacific 31.1 54.6 81.4 88.3 87.4 97.2 11.1 8.5

Europe 213.0 282.7 338.4 371.1 383.8 394.1 2.7 4.5

Middle East 7.5 9.0 13.4 14.3 15.3 17.8 16.2 6.4

South Asia 2.5 3.2 4.2 4.8 5.2 5.7 8.3 6.0

Market Share (%)

150
 World 100 100 100 100 100 100

Africa 3.0 3.3 3.6 9.8 3.9 4.0

Americas 19.7 20.3 19.3 18.9 18.8 18.5

East Asia/Pacific 9.5 11.9 14.4 14.3 13.7 14.6

Europe 64.8 61.8 59.8 60.0 60.3 59.3

Middle East 2.3 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.7

South Asia 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9

Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO) (Data as collected in WTO database
August 2000)

The projection by WTTC, 2000 states that Travel and Tourism is expected to
generate 9.4% of total exports (US$ 7.1 billion) in 2000, growing to US$ 22.0 billion
(9.1% of total) in 2010. According to WTO Tourism 2020 Vision would be:
Table 9: WTO Tourism 2020 Vision: Forecast of Inbound Tourism, World by Regions,
International Tourist Arrivals by Tourist Receiving Region (million)
Base Forecasts Average Market Share (%)
Year Annual
1995 2010 2020 Growth Rate 1995 2020
(%) 1995-
2020

Total 565.4 1,006.4 1,561.1 4.1 100 100

Africa 20.2 47.0 77.3 5.5 3.6 5.0

Americas 108.9 190.4 282.3 3.9 19.3 18.1

East 81.4 195.2 397.2 6.5 14.4 25.4

Asia/Pacific

Europe 338.4 527.3 717.0 3.0 59.8 45.9

Middle East 13.4 35.9 68.6 7.1 2.2 4.4

South Asia 4.2 10.6 18.8 6.2 0.7 1.2

Intra-regional 464.1 790.9 1,183.3 3.8 82.1 75.8

(a)

Long-Haul (b) 101.3 215.5 377.9 5.4 17.9 24.2

Source: World Tourism Organisation (WTO) (Data as collected in
WTO database July 2000)

Capital investment is estimated at US$ 8 billion or 6.7% of total investment in year

2000. By 2010, this should reach US$ 23 billion or 7.6% of total.
Tourism increased in the majority of countries in this region, and resulted in a rise of
8.3 per cent over last year’s results. India registered an increase of 5.2 per cent,
arrivals to Iran rose by 16.5 per cent, in Sri Lanka by 14.4 per cent and in the
Maldives by 8.6 per cent.

Table 10: Tourist Arrivals in India from South Asia

Country of 1998 1999 2000 % Change % Change
Nationality Jan.-Dec. 1999/98 2000/99

151
 Afghanistan 3605 3254 2613 -9.7 -19.7
Bhutan 2915 3896 3644 33.7 -6.5
Iran 9828 11655 10596 18.6 -9.1
Maldives 2119 3312 5167 56.3 56.0
Nepal 38199 25859 24886 -32.3 -3.8
Sri Lanka 118292 120072 128444 1.5 7.0

Total 174958 168048 175350 -3.9 4.3

Check Your Progress

1) Discuss the nature of tourism in South Asia?

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2) Which is the most tourism generating markets for this region?

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3) How do you visualise profile of traveller from South Asia?
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11.6 LET US SUM UP

South Asian Region, with India as a popular destination is showing an increase in
tourist traffic along with Asia Pacific Region. Future predictions show South Asian
Region as one with most potential. South Asia is important in context of India, as
India is a destination as a part of South Asia and also South Asian Region generates a
lot of traffic for India with intra-regional travelling.
South Asian Market is a market with potential. A few trends that can be seen in this
region are:
1) A lot of intra-regional travel,
2) India holds a place of pride,
3) Political situation plays a part in promoting a region,
4) Cultural tourism is very popular,
5) After a slump tourism is picking up in this region.

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All the data and tables in the Unit put together give a clearer picture of the prospects
of Tourism in South Asia. Usually South Asia has a lot of intra-regional tourism but
WTO projects that long-haul tourism will take prominence in the coming decade.
And usually long haul tourism is not associated with intra-regional tourism. But
trends change and we need to wait and watch the changes taking place.

11.7 CLUES TO ANSWERS

Check Your Progress

1) Refer Sec. 11.2.

2) Refer Sec. 11.2.3.

3) Refer Sec. 11.3.

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