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Convenience is the epitome of the Internet. Getting information at your fingertips and doing your work in the shortest span of time is what sells today. While talking at an event in New Delhi, Parvez Dewan, Secretary MOT, GOI, got it absolutely right when he said the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) for India, which will be in place soon, should be even more exciting than the Visa-on-Arrival (VoA). ETA will be issued through an online system for a short visit. ETA holders can then get their Short Visit Visa at their port of entry into India.
The tourism industry is probably the largest user of the Internet for marketing. For almost five years now the trend in Internet Marketing has been in the form of social media, it’s the new communication channel in the tourism industry (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and more). It’s a fabulous way of sending information in every direction instead of oneway or top-down. Trust and belief ride high when people generate and share their own content, with opinions and recommendations, which is vital for destination marketing, hotels, packages, etc. Blogging and Vlogging (Video Blog) are also becoming extremely popular for focussed marketing to push traffic to websites.
The Indian tourism industry is very quickly recognising the importance of the Internet. It is looking for people trained in this line to build interactive websites, to implement search optimisation and make destination videos to attract tourists to their countries, for leisure, health, pilgrimage, medical remedies, adventure, sports, festivals, business, incentives, etc.
It was said by many that the Internet would take away jobs as less people would be required to do the same work, but every advancement in this field of travel & tourism and hospitality leads to further specialisation, more employment, rural sustainability & development and growth of national economy. Google has just released the first 360-degree online images of 30 iconic Indian heritage sites on Google Maps and Google Cultural Institute.
Signing off while asking the industry to stay signed in!