German University in Cairo.

Case Analysis Incredible India.

Prepared By: Mohamed Gaber Saad Ibrahim

ID: M1700295

Dr. Tamer Awad.

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 Case Analysis of Incredible India Campaign.

About India,

India is a country with beautiful landscapes, flora and fauna along with rich cultural
heritage. Furthermore, the presence of huge skilled and unskilled labour provides India a
unique opportunity for seeking inflow of the foreign tourists. Tourism sector in India was
not a priority sector for the government after independence and it came into prominence
only after 1990. ‘Incredible India’ and ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’ Campaign launched by the
previous government are appreciable; however, the share of world tourist arrival to India
is still minimal. India is among the very few countries which faces adverse foreign
situation in terms of tourism as the number of Indians travelling abroad are just double
the foreigners coming into India. With the stable government at the center and the new
initiatives like ‘Clean India’ ‘Digital India’ and ‘Visa on Arrival’ announced by the
government, the tourism sector may hope to have some positive changes. This paper
seeks to analyze the problems being faced by the inbound tourism industry and the vast
potential through SWOT analysis.

India is one of the oldest countries in the world, full of charismatic and eye-catching
historical sites and challenging and strange stories that laid in the base of Indian cities,
regions and even buildings. India is the country of contrasts from architectural and
enlightening perspectives. Mistreated assets rights of local communities and their acuity
in planning process also influence the results and outcomes of the policies leading to
further strengthening of impacts of tourism activities. If we want to surprise ourselves
with food, culture, language, clothing and diverse behavior, India is the correct place for
to go. With the population of over one billion people, India is very multicultural and each
of the twenty eight states in the country has its distinctive identity that determines and
directs its history. At the moment, resettlement has led directly and indirectly to
noteworthy growth in tourism to both origin and target countries through improved
visibility, especially in the "Visiting Friends and Relatives" (VFR) sector, and to the
growth of new tourism infrastructure and transport routes in and between countries
(UNWTO, 2010).

The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people “traveling to and staying in
places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for
leisure, business and other purposes”.
This global spread of tourism in industrialized and developed states has produced
economic and employment benefits in many related sectors - from construction to
agriculture or telecommunications. Tourism has expanded from luxury to mass, and
attracts all classes of people from nearly all the countries of the world. Tourism is a

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multidimensional industry and can contribute significantly in improvement of economic
health of the nation. It is basically a service- based industry. It is a unique amalgamation
of many channel partners

Tourism is not only a growth engine but also an employment generator. According to
the Economic Survey 2011-12, the sector has the capacity to create large scale
employment both direct and indirect, for diverse sections in society, from the most
specialized to unskilled workforce. It provides 6-7 per cent of the world’s total jobs
directly and millions more indirectly through the multiplier effect as per the UN‟s World
Tourism Organization

Indian tourism industry: Some key facts,

Mark Twain had said, “So far, as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone by
man or nature to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his
rounds”. The importance of tourism as a creator of job opportunities can be understood
from the fact that in India every one million invested in tourism creates 47.5 jobs directly
and around 85-90 jobs indirectly. In comparison, agriculture creates only 44.6 jobs and
manufacturing a mere 12.6 jobs. Moreover tourism is the third largest foreign exchange
earner after gems and jewellery and readymade garments.
The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report ranks India 52nd out of 141 countries
overall. The report ranks the price competitiveness of India’s tourism sector 8th out of
144 countries. It mentions that India has quite good air transport (ranked 39th),
particularly given the country’s stage of development, and reasonable ground transport
infrastructure (ranked 42nd) [3]. Some other aspects of its tourism infrastructure remain
somewhat underdeveloped, however. For example, the nation has very few hotel rooms
per capital by international comparison and low ATM penetration.
Being one of the oldest civilization of the world, a country so rich in terms of flora and
fauna and five seasons, abode of 32 world heritage sites, India’s vast potential in
tourism cannot be ignored. Inbound tourism means tourist visiting India from other
countries of the world for various purposes like holiday, spas, medical, yoga and
meditation, business, meeting etc. The Table 1 below indicates the tourism statistics for
India in 2013.

Table 1
No. of Foreign Tourist arrival in India 6.97 Million
Average Growth Rate 5.9%
Number of Indian National Departures from India 10.63 Million
Average Growth Rate 11.4%

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Foreign Exchange Earnings of the Sector 1,07,671 Crore
Average Growth Rate 14%
Share of India in international Tourist Arrivals .64%
India; A rank in world tourist arrival 42
Source: Ministry of tourism government of India.

Foundation of Incredible India Campaign.

In India and the Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign to promote Incredible India as
a tourist destination in 2002. The phrase "Incredible India" was adopted as a slogan by
the ministry. Before 2002, the Indian government regularly formulated policies and
prepared pamphlets and brochures for the promotion of tourism, however, it did not
support tourism in a concerted fashion. However, in 2002, the tourism ministry made a
conscious effort to bring in more professionalism in its attempts to promote tourism. It
formulated an integrated communication strategy with the aim of promoting India as a
destination of choice for the discerning traveler. The tourism ministry engaged the
services of advertising and marketing firm Ogilvy & Mather (India) (O&M) to create a
new campaign to increase tourist inflows into the country.

The campaign projected India as an attractive tourist destination by showcasing different

aspects of Indian culture and history like yoga, spirituality, etc. The campaign was
conducted globally and received appreciation from tourism industry observers and
travelers alike. However, the campaign also came in for criticism from some quarters.
Some observers felt that it had failed to cover several aspects of India which would have
been attractive to the average tourist.

Until 2001, India’s efforts to promote tourism weren’t focused, For Example, the
marketing expenses of India’s ministry of tourism were divided among its 18 offices
abroad, each of which had its own separate advertising agency. “Spiritual India”,
“Cultural India”, etc – Each office branded the country differently.

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 Segments they are targeting.
All tourists all over the world.

SWOT ANALYSIS

Strengths.
⦁ The campaign highlights not only the tourist places in India, but also its
cultural and historical heritage

⦁ The campaign managed to make a powerful visual impact on the

viewers.

⦁ The campaign was featured sufficiently through print and TV media and
hence had a good reach

⦁ The Incredible India campaign along with the complementary campaign

of “AtithiDevoBhava” managed to gain popularity

⦁ India’s geological location is a culmination of forests, deserts, and

mountains and beaches. India can cater to almost every tourist
expectation and even can surpass the expectations. India is quite blessed
to have such a gracious natural beauty, and can cater to almost every
type of traveler whether they are seeking adventure, wellness, culture
and heritage or cuisines. Even geographically India is blessed to have five
seasons, and that too with a vast size can be experienced in a single
visit. One can feel the heat of summer in Mumbai and chili weather in
north at the same time.

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 ⦁ India is home of 70% of the world’s tiger. India tiger population has
grown by 30% according to government, rising from 1706 four years back
to 2226. A study conducted by charity showed that a single tiger in a
well visited reserve is now worth an estimated $ 750,000 per year in
tourism revenue.

⦁ India’s huge labour force both skilled and un-skilled can act as a very
strong point as tourism being a total service- based industry. English is
quite commonly spoken and understood around India, it gives India an
added advantage as compared to other south-east Asian nations [4].

⦁ India’s gems and jewellery, handicrafts are quite popular among tourist.
A tourist on an average spends 40% of his budget on shopping if
souvenirs’ and other merchandise. Today India is emerging as most
preferred destination for Medical Tourism. We have world class medical
facilities with top class doctors, personalized nursing care, offering
specialized treatments at a cost 1/4th that of developed countries. India
is the best place to rejuvenate with traditional medical concepts of
Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy along with complimentary therapies
like Yoga, Acupuncture and Aroma assisting in the process of healing.

⦁ Ministry of tourism has recently launched ‘Incredible India’ mobile

application that will assist international and domestic tourist to access
information about ministry recognized service operators. Tripigator.com,
a travel planning engine, was launched in Delhi in partnership with
Incredible India of Ministry of Tourism, on May 5, 2014. The website
instantly generates personalized travel itineraries with fewer inputs and
significantly reduces users’ efforts by replacing 10 tabs with one tab.

Weaknesses.
⦁ Some critics believed that the campaign was meant to appeal only to the
affluent tourist and could not appeal to the average tourist.

⦁ The campaign was found to be uni-dimensional by some people.

⦁ Since India is a geographically and culturally diverse country, the

campaign could not manage to cover all the aspects

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 ⦁ As the tourism industry is closely integrated with several other industries
like hotel and accommodation, aviation, railway, roadways, healthcare,
entertainment etc., the combined weaknesses of all the sectors make it
more vulnerable. Travelling around India is problematic, despite several
attempts to improve transfers between airlines, railways and buses. We
may have well developed aviation sector, biggest network of trains in
the world coupled with the buses and taxicab services, but all these
system works independently, that often results in long waiting hours and
create confusing situation for the tourist. The problem is that each of
these transports systems works independently. An integrated approach,
as perfected by more tourism-focused countries, is essential.

⦁ The cost of travel and accommodation in India is often higher than flying
to a neighboring country. India needs more hotel rooms and lower taxes
on flying. A limited supply of hotels and excessive taxation in aviation
means that an increasing number of Indians prefer to go abroad for their
holidays. About 17 million Indians travel out of the country each year,
more than double the number of inbound tourists.

⦁ The hotel industry in India is terribly underserved. The whole country

has just over 100,000 hotel rooms while the greater New York area has
almost 80,000, according to industry estimates. India will need to double
this capacity if it is to meet the demands of new tourists, and this is
where the state governments should be proactive.

⦁ India is a land of spectacular landscape, enchanting coastline, colorful

seasons, wildlife paradise aesthetic and exquisite tradition of
architecture and a land of rich music and dance …… the above versatile
characteristics of India attracted may voyagers to India but today our
tourism industry is not keeping pace with the volume of trade elsewhere
in the world.

Opportunities.
⦁ The tourism industry is India is flourishing at a rapid rate and the
Incredible India campaign has a lot of potential to attract tourists.

⦁ Government spending on the tourism industry are increasing gradually.

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 ⦁ A wider campaign can be planned leveraging the diversity in India.

⦁ Booming Information Technology and Outsourcing industry can also be a

contributor in increasing tourist traffic to India. Increasing internet
penetration and smart phones have synced all the stakeholders and helps
n facilitating the dissemination of information. Use of appbased services
will also help in boosting the sector. Use of social media destinations like
facebook, twitter, Pinterset and Instagram can be quite helpful for
marketing of hotels and destinations.

⦁ Indian movies and their actors are quite popular in south-east Asia.
Shooting on Indian locations can increase the popularity of the
destinations. Promotion of Indian movies across the borders also can
contribute significantly in terms of tourist arrivals.

⦁ The fluctuating and depreciated value of Indian Rupee against US dollar

is also a positive signal for the growth of inbound tourism in India

Threats.
⦁ Every campaign has its shelf life and so does the Incredible India
campaign.

⦁ If the campaign fails to innovate it will lose its appeal.

⦁ The neighboring South-East Asian countries are investing a lot in the

tourism industry which can be a threat.

⦁ Widespread poverty, presence of beggars, theft annoy the visitors and

they often go back promising the will never come back to India.

⦁ Unregulated infrastructure development for tourism can lead to

ecological and environmental imbalances. Disposal of waste, destruction
of forest depletion of water level, pollution caused by vehicles can be
threatening for the environment.

⦁ The market is at risk from extreme weather events like floods, rain and
scorching summers.

⦁ Large-scale political demonstrations increase security risk in the country

as we have seen the instances where mob got uncontrolled and damaged
public property.

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Proposed strategies and my suggestions with support.
Possible Brand Architecture
Strategies that they are intended to use one of them to structure
and organize India’s product portfolio,

Strategy 1

Using only one descriptive name attached for the individual products. The

unified capacity of proven associations of a national umbrella brand is expected

to serve as a unique selling propositions, thus providing india a competitive

advantage.

Strategy 2

Using sub-brands under the umbrella of “Incredible India” brand to help in

providing distinct identities to the individual products. The template of this

logo could be licensed to a host of private tourism service providers, so that

they are all promoted as sub-brands, drawing strength from the equity

enjoyed by the parent brand.

Strategy 3

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The umbrella brand would only transfer general values and credibility to the

individual product brands. Each product brand would have its own

independent values that differentiated it form others.

Strategy 4

Dividing India into autonomous regions, each of which could be permitted to

have its own branding strategy, this would lead to a numerous stand-alone

tourism brands.

In my suggestions I would prefer to use the second strategy which using

the incredible India as an umbrella brand and using sub-brands for each

product or each regions under the umbrella brand

Support of my suggestion:

Using a sub-brand for each product would help in providing a distinct

identities to the individual products or regions.

Each product or region has their own identity and features which need to be

shown to the customer so giving a chance to each would help in attracting

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more tourists and give them more knowledge about each part of India.

Eventually, India with cast culture and religious heritage with varied natural

attractions has immense potential for growth in the tourism industry. This

smokeless industry is capable of generating millions of jobs, earning

valuable foreign exchange for the country’s growth. Tourism infrastructure

requires an extensive investment both in public and private sector to

finance initial planning and development stages and fixed assets, Due to the

huge finance requirements, tourism industry is known as capital intensive

industry.

Thanks…….

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