How to Draw Indian Tourists to Korea

By Giridhar Mallya

A headline in the influential Indian Business daily ``Economic Times" dated May 15 caught my attention. A small story but with a larger significance vis-a-vis Indo-Korean relations. In a nutshell, this article dwelled upon three important things:

(1) Recent opening up of the first Korean Tourism Authority Office in New Delhi. They plan to attract up to 50,000 Indian tourists annually to Korea and invite Bollywood to shoot movies in Korea.

(2) Permission for exchange the Indian rupee directly to Korean won at money exchanges in Korea (without the need for a ``hard currency" like the U.S. dollar or British pound).

(3) Advanced negotiations on ``visa-on-arrival" scheme for both Indian and Korean tourists in the other country, which might become reality this year.

Though tucked in a corner of the inner pages of the Economic Times, this development could provide a tremendous boost to Indo-Korean relations aided significantly by the proactive role of the Indian Embassy in Seoul. For an Indian living and working for a Korean company in Korea and a keen ``Koreaphile" like me, nothing else could be more welcome. So far the people to people contact between the two countries has been limited due to lack of promotion about the tourism potential particularly in Korea.

The number of outbound tourists from India is increasing tremendously every year due to high GDP growth, increasing affluence and higher disposable income. Countries like Mauritius, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, U.K. and New Zealand had a first-mover advantage in attracting Indian tourists by opening their tourist offices in India and garnering a substantial portion of this tourist outflow. It is estimated that in Singapore and Malaysia Indian tourists not only form the majority of the inbound tourist traffic but also are the top spenders of tourism dollars.

In addition they also provided incentives to Bollywood film shooting in the form of easy permission and discounts for bulk booking. This in turn increased the awareness about these countries and their beautiful locales amongst the Indian audiences further boosting the tourist arrivals. It is a common sight in these countries when guides point out specific locations and say that Bollywood megastar Shah Rukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan shot so and so film there, to hoards of Bollywood-crazy Indian tourists.

Knowing firsthand the potential of Korean tourism with such diversified attractions as lovely mountains, surreal plains, plenty of historical and religiously significant sites, a highly industrialized nation, people with genuine warmth, and modern cities backed up by superb infrastructure and excellent public transportation, I think it was the right step for Korean tourist authorities to open an office in Delhi.

Moreover, Korea has the unique distinction of being the safest place on earth for tourists. It is time, therefore, for Korea to make up for lost time and hence it is a welcome step. Tourists will come once they are made aware of the tourist attractions by proper promotions, discounts, welcoming attitude and bang for their buck.

Secondly, permitting official direct exchange of the rupee to won also makes life simpler for incoming Indian tourists (though I doubt whether India will reciprocate with direct exchange of the won to rupee). It also makes the Indian visitor feel welcome since such a facility is available to Indian tourists only in select countries like Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and some Middle Eastern countries so far.

I am sure this will make a trip to a discerning Indian tourist much more hassle free. Moreover, it gives a distinct impression that Koreans are recieving recognition to the growing economic, military and trade cooperation between the countries and recognize the growing importance of India in the World pecking order, which it rightfully deserves. It makes you feel wanted in this country.

Finally, the ``visa on arrival" will make the whole experience of traveling to each other's country a much more hassle free and pleasant experience for the adventurous Indian and Korean tourists. I am aware that Korea has such an agreement with practically every country except probably U.S., India and a few others. Once it becomes a reality, it will no doubt give a tremendous boost to the tourist traffic between the two countries since Malaysia, Hong Kong and other countries have such an agreement with India and benefit from it in varying degrees.

Last but not least, I think the significance of Bollywood movie shooting in Korea and its economic benefits have been realized by Korean authorities. India produces more than 1,000 movies a year and more than 40 per cent of them are shot overseas by the cash rich producers who are mostly well known and listed corporate entities these days. Surprising but true. Mauritius, U.K., Singapore, Malaysia are the favorites and now New Zealand, Australia and USA have also hopped on the bandwagon.

There have been many Bollywood movies, which were shot entirely on location overseas! Imagine the economic benefits of a team of say three-dozen persons from India staying in a country, booking hotels for a month of shooting. Moreover, they are good spenders too on sight seeing, transport and more importantly on shopping. And these movies watched by hundreds of millions of movie crazy Indians will inadvertently act as brand ambassadors for the country where they were shot. Indians are crazy about movies and cricket.

A major portion of the Bollywood movie called ``Gangster" was shot in Korea and was well received in the box office. It is an accepted fact that this single movie probably created more awareness about Korea than all the promotions carried out so far by any government agency. Such is the power of popular entertainment. Hence this move by Korean authorities to actively encourage and invite Indian movie producers needs to be welcomed as the right step.

The writer is an Indian working for a Korean company. He can be reached at girmallya@yahoo.co.in.