Some of the events lately in my life has prompted me to write this..
My cousin had visited a tourist place near Bangalore, and took some pics and uploaded in Facebook. I neverr knew, one pic could spark an discussion ranging from racism to politics to taxation to culture. It was the picture of the entrance fees. A simple board which says
Entrance Fees
Indians 5 Rs
Foreigners 100 Rs
Now u get it. A pen pal of my cousin started the debate saying its very unfair. Obvious its slapped on ur face. Foreigners has to pay 20 times more to see the same thing. Indian friends were not ready to give up India's pride in front of a foreigner, they started to talk economics, world business, saying Indians are not compensated properly and foreigners are given good salary and their currency value is also good. What was asked was a very simple question, why should a foreigner pay 20 times more than an Indian. Why do we need to anwer it in the most complex way rather just accept the fact thts truly unfair and discrimination. I am 100% confident that this extra money is not going to contribute anything to the industry. The industry needs innovation and new ideas to be put in place to woo the tourists.
I am not sure about other countries, but i am pretty confident that this is not the case anywhere else.
Tourism is the gateway to a culture of country. People tend to relate whatever they see and experience in the short visit, and come to a conclusion. In the recent Oscar award winning movie " Slumdog Millionaire", there is a scene in which the little boy cheats the foreign couple and says this is true india. This scene affected the sentiments of Indians, saying we are shown in a very degraded way. India being a beautiful tourism location, needs to be more friendly to our guests from other countries and make them feel comfortable. There is a lot of scope in developing tourism in India. India is the hot destination for everything, just a simple thrust will make it the most preferred destination for anyone...
In UK, while you walk down a busy street, u see out of 10 only 4 wud be brit, 3 wud be asians, 2 wud be africans and 2 would be europeans. I dont deny the racial discrimination, but it doesnt stop people to go to UK. The standard of life is improved, people can do any job and lead a normal life unlike India.. Where u need to work hard to lead a normal life. India badly needs some branding and also lot of new developments...
