The Indian tourist is experiencing an extended holiday mood. Out to maximise happiness with wheelie-bags in tow, unmindful of the clogged airports, the carbon-emitting flights, the fuel guzzling SUV rides and the packed hotels, the urge to “dekho apna desh” (the ‘see your country’ pitch by the tourism ministry) is enduring.
Last year, official numbers, often quoted by the industry, saw domestic tourists embarking upon their 173 crore or 1731 million domestic visits and in the process spending close to seven times the amount the foreign travellers dished out in 2022. Since many domestic tourists visit and revisit their chosen destinations and cannot be easily tracked like the foreign visitors touching down at international airports, the total domestic visits is the industry surrogate for gauging domestic tourism trends. Albeit, the international visitors, at 6.2 million in 2022 are also up from the 1.52 million in 2021, according to a recent report on Inbound Tourism in India by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).
While the number of domestic visits for 2022 is still less than the pre-pandemic 2019 number of 2321 million visits, consider the growth: If it was 25.26 per cent in 2019 it was up to a whopping 155.45 per cent in 2022.
Employing Legions
This sugar rush to explore the country and the spending surge is contributing handsomely to India’s GDP and employing legions in the process. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council, the travel and tourism sector in India contributed 9.2 per cent to the country’s GDP in 2022 and generated 44.6 million jobs, which is around 8.5 per cent of the total employment in India and the total contribution of travel and tourism to India’s economy, including both direct and indirect impacts, was estimated at USD 426.2 billion in 2022 as compared to USD 178 billion in 2021.
Over-tourism
Clearly, Staycation (industry lingo for holidaying within the country) matters but a link node running across conversations in travel industry is that these tourists have still not widened their choice of the very many enticing destinations the country can offer. The visits are confined largely to just about to the same places – Manali or Mysore, Jaipur or Jodhpur, Nainital or Nashik, Agra or Amritsar, Shimla or Srinagar. In industry lexicon, this is “over tourism” leaving the sustainability-seekers petitioning tourists to explore exotic locales well beyond the main sights. Part of the attraction to the traditionally popular locations is the ‘bucket list’ syndrome, especially for the first-time traveller. But then, an overrun by tourists to the tourist hubs is taking a toll more than just the trail of litter left behind.
To Preserve & Protect
How then does one protect the antiquity, preserve the pristine wilderness and ideally try and return the planet to its pre-human state. To understand how travel to popular destinations can be made sustainable while also triggering an urge to reach out to places beyond, we turned to Deep Kalra, the founder of Nasdaq-listed MakeMyTrip, a leading travel service provider. “The topic of sustainability strikes a chord,” he says, and with good reason. He has spent all the 23 years of this century understanding the nuances of this industry. What also helps is his sector-promoting hat frothing with many feathers. He is the co-chair of the CII’s National Committee on Tourism and Hospitality. He is also the vice chairman of the World Travel and Tourism, India Chapter. To him, both the importance of domestic tourists and the sector’s growth potential are very high. “What saved the industry after COVID was domestic tourism. Talk to hoteliers and they will say the largest paying and also a reliable customer is the domestic tourist,” he says. On the scope for growth, he has this to say: “The travel and tourism industry over the next decade is expected to grow at almost double the rate of the growth of the Indian economy.” The key driver for this he says is a booming middle class with an appetite for leisure and travel.
We began by asking him about his own travel experiences. Just back from Maravanthe beach in Karnataka, he describes it as pristine and almost untouched by tourists with clear waters nearly devoid of plastic. Less than a five-hour drive from Goa – a destination ripped apart by over-tourism- this beach to Deep Kalra was that ideal spoke to a tourist hub like Goa or Jog Falls in Karnataka. Consider this: Just between April 2022 and March 2023, over 83 lakh or 8.3 million people landed in Goa, according to figures from the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Not surprising then that Goa, as per industry estimates, has around 8000 accommodation options as against just about 30 in and around Maravanthe, which despite being in Udipi district, a food capital.
Core to the sustainability challenge is the bane of over-tourism and a good reason why he is promoting the hub and spoke model to his customers. These include an offering of half a dozen to 10 spokes for almost every major tourist hub.
Sustainability scorecard
Ask him on India’s scorecard on sustainability thus far and he says, “it is average” because “on the one hand, we have not had a clear cut policy on sustainable tourism and on the other hand we have witnessed tremendous growth of tourism.” As a result, while “the big boys in the industry – the leading hospitality chains and travel companies” have evolved their own norms and given up plastic water bottles in favour of glass bottles, smaller entities across the length and breadth of the country have not done so for the simple reason that “there is no policy and alternatives to plastic bottles is an expensive proposition.” He is therefore in favour of a strong policy that not just guides people but also acts as a deterrent against the use of plastic bottles. There are ways to approach the problem and he gets to them later in the conversation.
Mission LiFE & Beyond
While, there is still no clear policy on sustainable tourism, Deep Kalra is hopeful and sees ‘Mission LiFE,’ guidelines announced by the tourism ministry as a great initiative “as it talks of a 360 degree approach for all stakeholders – hospitality and travel players to individual travellers,” and feels, “if we follow it in letter and spirit it can help a lot as there is a role for every player and that is why I am encouraged. In addition, what is heartening is a growing awareness among children on the need to protect the environment.”
Following the Mission LiFe guidelines, Deep Kalra moots a ban on use of smaller bottles, single-use plastic. There is a solution, he says, smaller players could set up a simple RO plant and bigger entities a bottling plant where they fill and refill glass bottles and tape them and serve. An easy solution for travellers to remote locations is establishing locally managed water ATMs and going by his own experience, finds it a workable and sustainable solution.
He also underlines better information dissemination, as yet another prickly issue that needs addressing. It is partly triggered by the fact that “Indians, by and large, do not know what to do and explore apart from not being good travel planners. At the very last minute,” he says, “they want to check ‘kahan deal mil raha hai?’ (Where is the best deal available).”
Another thorny issue that needs is about the last mile impediments. While India has great (road and cyber) connectivity and better cab and on-road travel options, many a times, it is the last mile challenge that irks. It is about getting past the narrow lanes, potholed paths with hawker stands and snack carts on either side. He suggests a mix of better parking options with permissions only to authorised hawkers.
Problems Rather Basic
Today, he says, our problems are very basic and simple. It is dissemination of information, need for clear policies and for setting examples and imposing penalties where required. While many globally talk of use of artificial intelligence (AI) to know your tourist better and tailor offering accordingly, Deep Kalra feels the use of AI in the Indian context is still for a niche and online savvy segment of population but not really to solve the sustainability issue.
He feels India could see a manifold jump in international tourist arrivals, especially the foreign budget income travellers, provided some of their concerns are addressed. “The real deterrent,” he says, “is safety and security.”
Partners & Plans
In a bid to help address the challenge of travel-related carbon foodprint, MakeMyTrip took to partnering last year with Climes, a climate tech start up whereby customers booking their flights on MakeMyTrip could choose to fly carbon-neutral with every flight ticket they purchase by contributing (even a token amount) to certified carbon removal projects from the Climes portfolio.
Always keen on niche projects with NGOs that can make a difference on the ground, set a good example and can be replicated elsewhere, says, he has recently partnered in Andamans with Kachrewaale Foundation, led by its purpose-driven program director, Garima Poonia focussed on making the region plastic-free.
Apparently, there is reason to expect more from Deep Kalra, who took to a non-executive role 18 months ago at the company he founded and today devotes much of his time on strategy, sustainability, inputs on product design, mentoring young entrepreneurs and most certainly for his travels off the beaten track.