As A Travelholic I Ask: Why My Kids Have Seen More Destinations Abroad Than In India?

Being a nuclear Indian family with two young children, we travel often. Much before the school vacation begins, we start looking at destination options. Blame it on the lack of familial support. Engaging my hyperactive kids is challenging during the holidays.

Imperatively, we must keep them away from addictive gadgets, so travelling comes to our rescue. As we reside in South India as a family of 4, it is usually more economical to travel abroad than to further parts of North or West India.

It’s sad but true.

Of late on our sojourns I’ve observed that there are many more like us. The Indian tourist family is popular abroad. Be it Maldives, Bali, Malaysia, New Zealand, or Singapore – every third tourist group is Indian. The number of Indian tourists watching the fireworks display at the Marina Bay Bridge this New Year’s Eve was phenomenal!

I feel proud and a little sad at the same time. The demand for luxury travel is high among Indians.

However, why is the Indian Tourism Industry unable to tap this potential? Indians are spending so much abroad – why are there not easily accessible and better facilities to retain this money within India?

Why is our tourism sector lagging behind?

Ours is a beautiful country. We’ve got mountains, deserts, the mighty Himalayas, long white beaches, and bountiful wildlife. However, our Tourism sector has not been able to really cash in on the vast reserves. Entertainment and tourism must join hands.

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Look at the success models of countries like Dubai and Singapore. Marvellous feats in Architecture and Design. Take an elevator ride 157 stories high and catch the view! We pay in dollars to do just that? It’s breathtaking and fun.

Take the two-minute ride on the Bali swing and a trip on Hot-air balloons in Turkey. Scores of Instagram Reels create more demand for these ridiculously overpriced activities.

What attracts us to travel abroad?

Clean streets and child-friendly public spaces. The ability to walk down the pathway without being run over. I mean vehicular traffic that follows the rules!

Accessible dustbins every few meters so the children can easily munch and not litter. Dozens of things to do in 4 days!! An action-packed vacation. Isn’t that what the kids love? Ditto for the parents.

Yet, this time when I visited the Night Safari I felt that the animals were few. The packaging and marketing were great, but the product was not. Gardens by the Bay is spectacular – but there are entry tickets at each Dome. How cleverly we must shell out more for so little.

Here, in India, we have fabulous wildlife sanctuaries but not very popularly marketed. We’ve got Bollywood. It is time that we have our own answer to the Universal Studios Theme Park. I would love to ride on the Krish rollercoaster and shake hands with Chhota Bheem and Jadu.

There is so much that is possible. We have indigenous greats like Ambani and Adani who can drive this movement. I urge our tourism industry to raise its definition of hygiene, service, and entertainment! It is time for us Indians and the World to declare- “Chalo, India Dekko.”

Image source: Shylandrahoode, via getty images, free on canvapro

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