Tap On Domestic Tourism, Says Expert.

Date: 17 January 2013

Tap On Domestic Tourism, Says Expert.

NEW DELHI (Bernama) - Domestic tourism, which is often neglected, is equally important as international travel and has huge potential in stirring the country's economy, says UN World Tourism Organisation Consultant Omar Nawaz. Globally, he said domestic tourism contributed 60 per cent of earnings in the tourism sector while international travel only accounted for 35 per cent.

The scenario is also applicable to Asian countries, except probably for the Maldives, where 30 per cent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came from international tourism, he said. "Countries like Indonesia, Sri Lanka and China realised the importance of domestic tourism during the downturn in their economies," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the South Asia Tour and Travel Exchange Exhibition here today.

China especially has made huge progress in encouraging its domestic tourism industry ever since. "Now, domestic tourism is the bread and butter of China's tourism industry," he said, adding that gone were the days when a country wooed foreign tourists solely for foreign exchange purposes.

He said some three decades ago, countries that lacked foreign exchange, would encourage international tourism to helped rake in funds. "However, now foreign exchange means nothing as with globalisation came standardisation and foreign exchange didn't matter. Today, in Europe you don't look at Swiss Franc or Spanish Peseta. There has been some form of convergence. So, from the income point of view, people don't care if there is foreign exchange (earnings) or not," he said.

The ultimate aim was the net contribution of the industry to the economy, said Nawaz. He said globally, the tourism industry contributed between five and 10 per cent towards a country's GDP. "For China it is nine per cent, mainly because of policy changes towards supporting domestic tourism. They gave priority to the domestic travel sector," he said.

Malaysia is another country, which is at par with global standards when it comes to encouraging both domestic and international tourism. "The multi-cultural society with varied festivals, as well as, good infrastructure makes it attractive for both domestic and international travelers," Nawaz said, stressing that government policy was vital in supporting domestic tourism.

Besides government policies, the emergence of low-cost carriers is an important factor in boosting domestic tourism in Indonesia, said Head of Resources Development, Indonesian Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, I Gde Pitana. He said the 2002 Bali Bombing in Kuta, Bali, took a toll on Indonesia's international tourism just when the country had launched the "Kenali Negerimu, Cintai Negerimu," campaign to encourage domestic tourism. "Last year domestic tourism numbers touched 245 million. The emergence of low cost carriers is another important factor that helped boost the industry," he added. Indonesia's foreign tourist arrival target for 2012 was only eight million. The number of foreign visitors to Indonesia reached 6.5 million during January-October 2012.

By M. Saraswathi

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