Boosting domestic tourism
Strategic move by India’s PM to promote local holiday destinations
RECENTLY Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a collection of photographs on social media. These images depicted him engaging in activities such as snorkelling, leisurely walking on a white-sand beach, and relaxing on a chair by the clear turquoise seas of Lakshadweep, an archipelago located in the Indian Ocean. On social media, he enthusiastically praised the beautiful and lesser-known Indian archipelago. His administration sees this distant location as having untapped tourism potential.
This generated renewed enthusiasm to enhance the domestic tourism of this archipelago. The PM’s impactful rhetoric aimed at promoting domestic tourism has yielded favourable outcomes for the domestic tourist industry, local service providers, and other stakeholders in the local tourism sector. He expressed admiration for the picturesque splendour and captivating serenity. It has prompted specialists to evaluate and promote the vast potential of Lakshadweep to become a popular tourist destination worldwide.
Mr Modi said: “Those who want to visit different beaches around the world, and are enamoured by them — I request them to first come to Lakshadweep and take a look (Aljazeera, 23 Jan 2024).”
As per the reports, the term “Lakshadweep” continued to be the most frequently searched phrase on the Google search engine, with over 100,000 queries each day (Anand, A., Mint, 6 Jan 2024). Subsequently, social media influencers, particularly Bollywood celebrities and former cricketers, enthusiastically promoted the Lakshadweep islands as attractive tourism spots. Mr Modi recently re-emphasised the importance of prioritising one’s own nation.
“Prioritise the actions you do for the benefit of your nation. If you are contemplating a trip, research tourist destinations in your country and consider visiting these locations with your close companions. Make every effort to enhance the promotion of tourism in India (ABP News, 21 Jan 2024).”
Brillant move towards enhancing local tourism
This is a strategic and brilliant move to promote the local tourism industry. Sharing pictures on social media about the exquisite natural beauty has ignited worldwide fascination for the place. This shall have an emphatic impact on enhancing the economy and creating prospects for the local population. Mr Modi’s visits have promoted domestic tourism and have resulted in positive outcomes for domestic tourism, local service providers, and tourism stakeholders. He applauded the scenic beauty and mesmerising tranquillity. It has reignited experts to assess and market Lakshadweep’s immense potential to become a global tourist destination.
India’s PM re-emphasised promoting local tourism by saying: “Think about your country first. Do whatever you wish for your country first. If you are planning a vacation, look up tourism sites in your homeland and consider visiting these places with your loved ones. Do what you can to promote tourism in India (HT, 21, Jan 2024).”
The PM also pushed for “‘wed in India’ on the lines of “make in India”, urging fellow citizens to refrain from destination weddings and hold such events in the country.
“Is it necessary to hold marriages abroad? Can’t we hold such functions in our country? It is our money that goes into the coffers of someone offshore whenever we hold destination weddings. This trend of holding marriage functions abroad should be shunned. This is why I call on all of you to wed in India (HT, 21, Jan 2024).”
There may be some criticism of improving the infrastructure and connectivity of Lakshadweep to cater for future possible tourist visits. Despite this, the PM’s move has created history on social media for searching Lakshadweep and sparked enthusiasm to compare it with its competing tourist destinations like Maldives and Bali.
Pacific islands: Huge potential of local tourism
Pacific Islands tourism stakeholders and leaders could also use this strategic move to boost their tourism industries. In the age of globalisation and digitalisation, social media speaks volumes in promoting and condemning tourist destinations. The responsibility of promoting tourism lies on the shoulders of each citizen of these archipelagos. Simple basic things such as supporting cleanliness within the nation and sharing pictures of beautiful, attractive tourist destinations on social media urge users to plan their trips. Giving preference to having weddings within the local tourist destinations shall also provide economic support to local tourism. The potential of the local tourist destination needs to be assessed and supported by creating a vibe among the expected tourists. This social media promotional strategy is powerful, but if not supported by available infrastructure on the ground level, that may have negative repercussions and ramifications.