Strategist | Jul 16 | Tourism

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We have always aimed to provide our members consulting projects and challenges that will equip them to tackle future assignments confidently and competitively.

We also aim for facilitating growth of collective knowledge of the entire student community interested in the Consulting and Strategy domain. This magazine says it all. In this issue of Strategist we have focused on Tourism, one of the important industries that is going to prop up our nation’s economy in coming years. We hope you enjoy this issue of Strategist as much as we enjoy creating it.

-Team ConQuest

Strategist | July 2016

CONQUEST

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CO N T E N T S MAGAZINE 1 Introduction Tourism earns a substantial share of foreign exchange reserves across geographies and in many cases is the principal source of income for many countries

2 GIS applications in tourism - A tool for Sustainable Tourism Tourism sector has always been one of the key drivers of growth among the service sectors of an economy. In India it contributed to around 12.5% of the GDP in the last fiscal with a compounded annual growth rate of 11.5% in the last five years.

3 Educational tourism vs Medical tourism – A comparative analysis With increasing globalization and interconnectedness of countries, tourism of all kinds is flourishing and different new types of tourism are developing too. The two such rapidly growing types of tourism are educational tourism and medical tourism.

4 Dark tourism - Factors shaping tourists’ perception Death is the foundation of all fears and overcoming fear is the foundation of all adventures. Being invincible in the face of a threatening fear gives the human mind a false yet subtly cogent temporary feeling of immortality.

Strategist | July 2016

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Introduction industry overview Tourism is the largest service industry globally with the international bill crossing $1.2 trillion in 2014. It earns a substantial share of foreign exchange reserves across geographies and in many cases is the principal source of income for the economy under consideration and a crucial employer for the inhabitants such as in countries like Macau, Bahamas, Seychelles, Anguilla, Maldives and many more. Even in the year 2009, which has been the worst for the sector in over a decade, it managed to account for 9.4% of world Gross Domestic Product and provided livelihood to 8.2% of the world workforce.

Tourism is characteristically of three types- inbound, domestic and outbound- in the context of a particular country or geography. Inbound tourism refers to foreign tourists coming to a country, Domestic tourism refers to tourism within the country, and Outbound tourism refers to inhabitants of a country travelling to other countries.

In December 2015, the United Nations declared 2017 as the year of Sustainable Tourism Development which speaks about the increasing significance of the travel and tourism sector worldwide as well as focus on the development of the same.

Strategist | July 2016

CONQUEST Tourism is one industry that is synergistically associated with many other industries such as transportation, hospitality and entertainment among others.

No wonder it commands 30% of the global service trade as also 6% of exports of products and services combined.

pace in the world economy than many others such as automotive, financial services and health care and thus, it becomes crucial to study the ongoing trends at the global level.

Tourism is amidst a notable changing paradigm among others i.e. a shift in preferences of customers towards niche and customized products or services which implies the immense breadth of experiences that companies have to offer or live up to in order to fulfil the increasingly adventurous customer who is in an incessant search of newness and exclusive involvements.

Industry Analysis Global

In December 2015, the United Nations declared 2017 as the year of Sustainable Tourism Development which speaks about the increasing significance of the travel and tourism sector worldwide as well as focus on the development of the same. Travel and tourism contributed USD 7.6 trillion (10% of total GDP) and also created 277 million jobs in the year 2014 – one out of every 11 jobs was generated due to this sector. Internationally, over 1.14 billion tourists travelled with about 46% of the same belonging to the emerging economies.

On the other hand, approximately 5 billion tourists travelled domestically within their country of residence. As per a study by the World Travel and Tourism Council, this industry has been growing at a faster

• Tourism Ministers of G20 nations gathered in Turkey in September 2015 for collaboration on how tourism can create jobs to promote inclusive growth and reduce inequalities at national as well as international level • Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC) was launched at the global summit of World Travel and Tourism Council in Madrid, Spain in April 2015, committed to work with governments and the private sector for travel facilitation, infrastructure development, environmental sustainability and investment in human capital • First UNW TO and UNESCO World Conference on Tourism and Culture took place in February, 2015 in Siem Reap, Cambodia with the goal of fostering new partnerships • 74 companies from 19 countries signed the private

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sector commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism – UNWTO’s core policy document for both sustainable and responsible tourism development • France, United States, Spain, China and Italy rank in top 5 destinations for international tourist arrivals • United States, Spain, China, France and Macao (China) rank in top 5 destinations for international tourist receipts (in USD) • Hong Kong, Paris and New York were recognized as top 3 metropolitan areas for tourism by the World Travel Monitor • China has continued to hold its position as the world’s top inter national tour ism spender since the year 2012 • Violent conflicts, terrorist attacks and the refugee crisis in Europe had the most significant impact on travel and tourism though the overall movement has remained positive • 7/10 respondents to a survey in Asia-Pacific stated that they will travel at least to the same extent as they did in the past year, denoting strong travel intentions • Nearly 50% of the international travellers now post on social media including blogs about their travel experiences, highest figure so far For the long-term forecast, international tourist arrivals are expected to reach as high as 1.8 billion by the year 2030 between 2010 and 2030, the arrivals in emerging destinations are estimated to grow at a rate of 4.4% whereas those in advanced economies are estimated to grow at a lower rate Strategist | July 2016

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The strongest growth by region is to be seen in Asia-Pacific where the number of arrivals are predicted to rise from 331 million at present to 535 million by 2030.

India The impact of travel and tourism industry on any economy is significant as it is an opportunity to bring in foreign exchange, nurture entrepreneurialism, create employment and promote its heritage, values and culture. In the Indian context, this sector along with that of hospitality has turned out to be a growth driver of services with the total tourist visits in India growing for the last five years at an approximate rate of 16%, according to a study by KPMG. Trade, repair services, hotels and restaurants collectively contributed nearly US$ 187.9 billion or 12.5 per cent to the nation’s GDP in 2014-15 - growing at 11.7 CAGR over the period 2011-12 to 2014-15.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals are increasing at 4.5%, reaching about 7.1 million during January and November 2015. However, considering the fact that China has almost 55 million foreign tourist arrivals, the Indian tourism industry still has potential to grow.

The expenditure generated by foreign tourists are expected to amount to INR 2958 billion as well and similar scope as total number of arrivals exists in this income as well.

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CONQUEST

It is the domestic travellers’ category that far exceeds that of international ones. Increase in the number of domestic travellers due to increase in income and purchasing power has given way for the expansion of the hospitality markets in the country, as is seen in other emerging markets as well. For example, the US business travel market is expected to stagnate over the next five years (0.3% growth per annum) whereas the same segment in China was expected to rise as high as 6.5% per annum till 2013.

The direct contribution of travel and tourism to the Indian GDP was INR 2478 billion (2.2% of total GDP) in 2014 where direct contribution can be defined as accommodation, transportation, attractions, retail trade, food and beverage industries, cultural and sports and recreational services. It also included residents’ domestic spending on travel and tourism, visitor exports, domestic travel spending of businesses and individual government spending on the same. Including the direct, indirect and induced impact, total contribution to the GDP is forecasted to increase by 7.3% to INR 16587 billion (7.6% of total GDP).

Travel and tourism also generated 23,455,500 jobs in the year 2015 – equivalent to 5.5% of total employment – including employment by hotels, airlines, other passenger services and travel agents but excludes commuter services. By 2025, this industry will be responsible for the creation of 29,020,000 jobs directly – an increase of 2.2% per annum over the next ten years.

Recognizing the importance of the same, the government of India has undertaken following initiatives for the development of India as a tourism hub: • Project Mausam: Proposal to establish cross cultural linkages and to revive historic maritime cultural and economic ties with 39 Indian Ocean countries • Covering 150 countries under e-visa scheme besides opening an airport in the NCR region in order to ease the pressure on Delhi airport • Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana: Eight missions cities - Varanasi, Mathura, Ajmer, D warak a, Badami, Vellankini, Warangal and Amaravati - approved by

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HRIDAY National Empowered Committee for a total cost of INR 431 crore • INR 844.96 Crore sanctioned to States and Union Territories for developing tourism destinations and circuits during FY 2014-15, including projects relating to Product/ Infrastructure Development for Destinations and Circuits, Human Resource Development, Fairs and Festivals & Rural Tourism • Memorandum of Understanding between India and Cambodia for cooperation in the field of tourism with a view to promote bilateral tourism between the two countries Strategist | July 2016

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• Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Tourism of India and the Ministry of Trade Industry and Tourism of Colombia for cooperation in tourism • Services provided by Indian tour operators to foreign tourists in relation to a tour wholly conducted outside India to be taken out of the tax net to promote tourism • “Sarnath-Gaya-Varanasi Buddhist” circuit to be developed with world-class tourist amenities to attract tourists from all over the world • Tourism projects with investment of INR 200 Crore and above included in the harmonised list for grant of infrastructure status • Release of a fresh category of visa - the medical visa or M visa, to encourage medical tourism in India

• Goldman Sachs has invested INR 255 Crore in Vatika Hotels • MakeMyTrip will acquire the travel planning website Mygola to focus on consolidating and innovating the online travel segment • SoftBank to invest in the INR 630 Crore funding round of OYO Rooms • Thai firm Onyx Hospitality and Kingsbridge India hotel asset management firm to open seven hotels in the country by 2018 for which the JV will raise USD 100 million • Thomas Cook has acquired Kuoni Group’s business in India and Hong Kong for about INR 535 Crore to scale up inbound tour business • US -based Vantage Hospitality Group has signed a franchise agreement with I n d i a - b a s e d M i raya H o te l Management to establish its With these encouraging initia- mid-market brands in India tives being taken, travel and tourism sector continues to Though the future outlook for attract FDI with over USD 8.5 travel and tourism in India is Billion attracted since the year positive, certain key issues have 2000. Some of the more recent not been able to keep pace with investments are as follows: the growth. For example, the hospitality sector is expected • ITC to invest about INR 9,000 Crore in the next four years to expand its portfolio to 150 hotels. New hotels in Mahabalipuram, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and Colombo by 2018 • Holiday Inn, Four Points

by Sheraton, Raddisson Blu, Country Inn and Suites, Double Tree by Hilton to develop properties in India • Marriott has 47 signed properties with the aim to have 100 operational hotels in the next six years from the 24 operational hotels now Strategist | July 2016

to have a shortfall of 1.1 million employees by 2022. Ministry of Tourism’s study proves the fact that only 50% of the employees in key functional domains of hotels are fully trained whereas the same number is 35% for restaurants and eateries. Formally trained managerial staff only accounts for 16% of the hospitality sector and 21% of the total travel segment. India has also been given a low rank of 74 among 140 nations in terms of safety and security – World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness report of 2013. This speaks about inadequacies in ensuring the safety of both domestic and foreign tourists and directly impacts the tourist footfall.

India also has a low rank of 109 among 140 countries for health and hygiene with poor access to healthcare, sanitation and clean drinking water. Though the government has recognized the need for improvement in infrastructure, current shortages in the same affect the availability of accommodation and transportation services for all –

CONQUEST we hold 95th rank in the 140 economies for tourism infrastructure.

Nonetheless, there is a huge scope for growth. India is estimated to be the fastest growing economy in wellness sector tourism. The medical tourism has grown at a CAGR of 27% for the past three years. The revenue for the Indian hotels is also expected to rise to 9-11% in 2016. It is for these reasons that on the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index report, India is constantly improving its rank with 52nd rank in 2015 among 141 nations and 12th in Asia-Pacific region.

Major Players Global

A bag of the most prominent players in the global tourism sector typically includes travel agencies, hotels, airlines, travel technology companies, cruise lines and car rental companies among others. Among travel companies, the Priceline Group, operating in over 200 countries, is a leading publicly traded travel company, after its $2.6 billion acquisition of dining reservations platform OpenTable in 2014. Some of the bigwigs among hotels and hotel chains are Las Vegas Sands (an American Casino and Resort operating company), Galaxy Entertainment, Hilton Worldwide (an $11.3 billion [ 2 0 1 5 ] B l a c k s t o n e G ro u p company), Wynn Resorts and many more. USA dominates in the Airlines space with Delta Air Lines, American Airlines Group, Southwest Airlines and United Continental among others like Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines, grabbing a lion’s share

of the tourism sector. A prominent player in the travel technology space is the Amadeus IT Group, an IT service provider of search, pricing, booking, ticketing and other processing services to Airlines, Hotels and Tour operators among other customers. Among cruise lines, Carnival Corporation & plc is the world’s largest cruise ship operator (clocking $15.7 billion revenue [2015]) having a fleet of over 100 vessels.

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fierce competitors (in the Indian context) of some of the largest multinationals globally as mentioned earlier.

India The Indian pack is led by the likes of Cox and Kings, a multinational with a presence in 23 countries and in 149 cities in India, among travel agencies and India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd., a public sector company which is popularly known as the Ashoka Group of Hotels. Thomas Cook is another key player in the Indian market with its integrated offerings in the travel as well as the travel-related financial services spaces. Ecommerce is an emerging arena in the sector with players like Make My Trip, Yatra and Goibibo offering all travel booking services from transportation to hotels. The hospitality space is dominated by long established players such as the Tata Sons-promoted Taj Group of Hotels, which has been recently replaced by the $12.2 billion global merger of multinational hotel chains Marriott and Starwood as the largest entity (in terms of the number of rooms [13,500]).

There are other players like the Apeejay Surrendra Group owned The Park Hotels and the Oberoi Hotels and Resorts which have traditionally been Strategist | July 2016

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Strategist | July 2016

CONQUEST

g i s a p p l i c at i o n s i n

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tourism- a tool for s u s ta i n a b l e t o u r i s m Renu redhu, TISS The tourism sector has always been one of the key drivers of the growth among the service sectors of an economy. In India it contributed to around 12.5% of the GDP in the last fiscal with a compounded annual growth rate of 11.5% in the last five years. Although the data may seem impressive in itself the relative performance of our country lags behind the major developed nations as well as our Asian peers.

The economic growth in the last decade has propelled us as the 8th best nation globally when it comes to the Business Travel Index, as per the data from World Economic Forum (WEF), India ranks 52nd in the list of countries when it comes to travel & tourism competitiveness! Even the smaller countries like Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are far ahead to us when the annual tourists arrival data is compared. The big question here is why can’t we attract more foreign tourists even when we have the most climatic zones, topographical variability and cultural heritage than any other country in the world?

The share of foreign tourist arrivals in the overall pie is just 2% for India, which speaks for itself when the answer to the above question is concerned. The one thing any foreign tourist seeks before venturing to a travel destination is ‘data’. Now, this data could be in multiple forms, be it the various

destinations around a central location, the geography of the nearby areas, the tourism facilities available in the area and the services available in terms of security, safety and hygiene. The crude fact is that we don’t have any detailed information or let alone data for the immense potential tourist destinations of our country. Nobody is bothered about the places to visit in the far northeastern states or the valleys in the Western Ghats or the villages of the Gangetic planes because of the absence of data and planning. So, a large chunk of the foreign tourist arrivals get limited to the forts of Rajasthan and Agra or to the beaches of Goa & Kerala.

This is where we need to intervene and this is where Geographic Information System or GIS can make a difference. A lot of work has already been started but is still limited to studies and research.

GIS & Tourism: Common Link There’s a common link between GIS and tourism, which makes the use of GIS more indispensable for enhancing the unexplored potential of tourism sector. The definition of ‘Tourism’ incorporates exploring places of interests away from the familiar environments of home and work, which is the core focus of GIS, as a field of science! For decades the archaeologists, anthropologists, town planners and geographers Strategist | July 2016

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have been using GIS as a tool and tourism as a sector draws interest from all of them. It helps significantly in tourism planning through data collection, which effectively helps in decision-making.

Capabilities Of GIS In Tourism Planning Tourism planning is the most important step towards developing a smart ecosystem where both the actorstourists & local inhabitants can have a win-win situation and that’s the foundation of a sustainable tourism landscape. The tourism development authorities must include the wisdom of the local populace while undertaking this step. Following are the set of most important tools which GIS can facilitate for sustainable tourism activities:For Tourists • Information about the tourist locations • Interactive web/mobile maps to guide in desolate locations • Visual presentation of tourist sites through images & videos • Route planning for personalized experiences • Information regarding specific events and attractions For Planners • Data collection & updation • Database management • Effective Planning Model: GIS Application in Tourism The main idea behind GIS application for tourist is to make the idea of visiting a place more memorable through timely and effective dissemination of information collected through the data points. All the geographical areas are mapped in the database.

The user/tourist searches for specific tourist criteria, which could either be a hotel, nearest airport or any specific attraction in a particular area.

The integrated GIS is the storehouse Strategist | July 2016

of all the relevant information which are monitored real time by the administration. The fundamental aspect of GIS is in the selective display and retrieval of information from its own database. This defines the user involvement with the software and ultimately helps the tourist take the right decision.

Sustainable through GIS

To u r i s m

Sustainable tourism takes the whole concept of tourism to a different pedestal. It involves the complete well being of the people living in the area, preservation of the natural as well as the cultural assets through special focus on reducing the harmful

impacts on environment and effectively generating economic benefits from the tourism activity. This involves the participation of the local populace in providing a better experience to the visitors, which in turn helps in an increase in their income levels.

The revolution that can be brought towards promoting tourism of a particular place lies in marketing the natural as well the cultural beauty of the place. Particularly in India there are numerous such rural pockets, which can’t be found on the list of tourism departments but possess specific features which can attract tourists. Millions of tourists are interested in experiencing India, which lives in its villages.

CONQUEST Of late, rural tourism and heritage tourism have gathered much pace due to the boom in technology but still there’s a huge untapped potential.

The use of GIS as a tool for tourism star ts with spatial data collection as field points.

This step is the most vital one since it must include the specific local perspectives like the weather condition of the area, seasonal climatic variations, crop patterns etc. Generally a lot of cultural activities are interlinked with the abovementioned points, which could eventually be a point of interest for the tourists coming to the place. These data points are then passed on to the tourism planners who can then structure these into valuable information. Once the local population is involved in the process, they become more of a stakeholder in the whole process and start contributing towards it.

This reduces the vulnerabilities in the system. The second step where GIS becomes imperative is in the facilitation and controlling of tourist activities in the area. Safety and security of the tourists as well as of the sensitive areas is a prime concern in tourism. GIS can play an important role in the identification of such areas lying deep inside the forest or within the ocean through real time analysis of satellite images. Tourists can avail accurate location based information through the database enabling their overall experience.

The other aspect of GIS towards sustainable development of tourism lies in the environmental impact assessment of the tourist areas. Due to large

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influx of tourists in ecologically sensitive areas the local habitat is bound to face severe damage, which is tough to assess in the absence of GIS. The carrying capacity assessment of a tourist area must be monitored to protect the natural sustainability of the area. Technology plays an important role in assessing the suitability of a place before developing hotels, recreational zones or other facilities. GIS uses visual impact analysis tools which can give a three dimensional visualization of the area under consideration.

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e d u c at i o n a l t o u r i s m v s m e d i c a l t o u r i s m : a c o m pa r at i v e a n a ly s i s Sandeep Chalia, SPJIMR Educational tourism can also help in augmenting classroom learning. It can act as a supplement to classroom learning. For subjects such as geography, engineering, history etc., a visit to the relevant place or company can help in showing students the physical manifestations of all the concepts they’ve learned in class. After seeing and observing the things, they can better relate theory with real world and the classroom learning gets reinforced.

With increasing globalization and interconnectedness of countries, tourism of all kinds is flourishing and different new types of tourism are developing too. The two such rapidly growing types of tourism are educational tourism and medical tourism.

Educational Tourism It refers to the tourism in which the travellers visit a place with two main purposes: learning and leisure. It can be domestic as well as international travel.

The travellers get the twin benefits of de-stressing themselves as well as gaining knowledge and skills. And it is widely accepted that learning is more efficient and long-lasting when we enjoy the process of learning. This learning helps in self-improvement.

Educational tourism can also help in augmenting classroom learning. It can act as a supplement to classroom learning. For subjects such as geography, Strategist | July 2016

curriculum taught at the foreign schools and second by learning about the formal and informal culture of other countries.

3. Seminars can be organized for learning enthusiasts in which the people learn about the special features of history, geography, archaeology, arts, music etc. of that region. They may also participate in the various activities conducted in that region.

4. Skill development tours focus on developing specific skills pertaining to the region being visited. E.g. in Costa Rica, several tours are being conducted where one can learn about ecology conservation. Another example is Portugal’s Pierre de Coubertin Soccer Academy where travellers can learn how to incorporate the lessons from soccer into their life. They can also do physical activities to de-stress themselves as well as explore the wines of Portugal.

5. Recently, there has been surge in the people’s interest in yoga. Consequently, many foreigners visit India to learn yoga and meditation. Several training centres across the country conduct full-length course to cater to such travellers.

engineering, history etc., a visit to the relevant place or company can help in showing students the physical manifestations of all the concepts they’ve learned in class. After seeing and observing the things, they can better relate theory with real world and the classroom learning gets reinforced. Educational visits are quite prevalent in the institutes of higher learning in the fields such as hospitality, culinary skills and management.

Educational tourism is one of the fastest growing segments of tourism. It can be of different forms such as: 1. Educational trips by school children can help in the growth of local businesses such as hobby classes, activity centres, restaurants etc. This can provide livelihood to the local people.

2. International immersion Medical tourism and foreign exchanges at graduation and post-graduation Medical tourism refers to the level. The students gain two-fold. tourism in which people travel First in terms of the specialized to a foreign country in order to

CONQUEST

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Medical tourism refers to the tourism in which people travel to a foreign country in order to obtain a particular medical treatment which may be expensive or may not be available in their home country. Sometimes, people also travel to another country to seek a treatment which may not be legal in their home country.

The medical treatment can be of several types such as surgery, fertility procedures, ayurvedic treatment etc. However, due to a change in climate, lack of natural immunity and inadequate posttreatment facilities in the other country, the travellers are prone to other post-operative risks in the foreign country. The popular destinations for medical tourism are: Costa Rica, India, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and USA.

obtain a particular medical treatment which may be expensive or may not be available in their home country. Sometimes, people also travel to another country to seek a treatment which may not be legal in their home country.

The medical treatment can be of several types such as surgery, fertility procedures, ayurvedic treatment etc. However, due to a change in climate, lack of natural immunity and inadequate posttreatment facilities in the other country, the travellers are prone to other post-operative risks in the foreign country. The popular destinations for medical tourism are: Costa Rica, India, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and USA. Several factors are contributing to the growth of medical tourism. These are: 1. The health-care costs are high in the developed countries (e.g. US). So patients look for cheaper alternatives outside their home country.

2. In countries where the healthcare system is dominated by government (e.g. UK, Canada), people have to wait for several weeks for obtaining the medical treatment. So they travel to other countries where there’s no such wait.

3. Lack of adequate medical

facilities in developing and undeveloped countries is also a major reason. Those who can afford to travel abroad go and obtain the treatment.

4. The couples seeking fertility procedures such IVF, assisted pregnancy, surrogacy, abortion etc. also flock to the foreign countries because in their home country, such treatments may not be legal.

5. Some travellers also travel to other countries for cosmetic surgery treatment.

6. Increasing affordability and frequency of international travel has brought down the costs

as well as time involved in medical tourism.

Medical tourism is growing fast in India and India is becoming the second most preferred destination for medical tourists after Thailand. By 2016, the size of medical tourism sector in India is expected to be $2 billion, with annual growth rate of 30%. The most sought after medical treatments are knee-cap replacement, cosmetic surgery, liver transplant, bariatric surgery and cancer treatment.

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Comparison of Educational Tourism and Medical Tourism

to grow further. There are several benefits as well as drawbacks for the people, their home country and the foreign country they visit.

1. Educational tourism is However, despite the drawback, more of a choice whereas medical both these types of tourism are tourism is more of a compulsion. expected to grow at a rapid pace Both help in the self-improvement in future. and well-being of the travellers.

2. Both of these can help in development of the region as a commercial or a medical hub. In case of foreign travel, both these types of tourism contribute in increasing the foreign exchange reserves of the host country.

3. The exchanges under these types of tourism can help in fostering the relationships between the people of different countries.

4. There are some legal issues associated with medical tourism.

The patient may not be covered under law of host country. In case of any medical negligence or malpractice, the patients won’t get a legal support in the host country and won’t be covered be covered by insurance policy of the home country. On the other hand, there does not seem to be any legal issues associated with educational tourism.

5. Uncontrolled educational tourism to environmentally sensitive regions can disturb its natural balance. In medical tourism, there are post-operative risks.

Also, there is risk that the patient catches a communicable disease during treatment and unknowingly brings the infection to his home country when he returns.

This may cause the spread of such diseases in this home country as well.

Hence, it can be concluded that both educational tourism and medical tourism are growing sectors, and with the increase in globalization, they are expected Strategist | July 2016

CONQUEST

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d a r k t o u r i s m - fa c t o r s s h a p i n g tourists’ perception girish pai, IIM shillong Aren’t we all enthralled by the prospect of free falling from the sky and surviving, Aren’t we always bustling up at the prospect of getting lost in wilderness, Aren’t we all pumped up by watching a stuntman perform triple 360° on a wheelie, Aren’t we all filled up with adrenaline rush going deep down in the ocean…

Have you wondered why?

Death is the foundation of all fears and overcoming fear is the foundation of all adventures.

Being invincible in the face of a threatening fear gives the human mind a false yet subtly cogent temporary feeling of immortality. Those moments of battle with your eternal nemesis provides a purpose and a new outlook towards your existence. The gush of emotions and the will to power in the face of the looming fear of your end is often the recipe for human miracles. Indeed, death has always made the all-powerful humankind rooted to the ground but the constant battle of humankind to overcome it has been the raison d’etre of our progress. Let us just take a while before we falsely conclude that we understood this construct; there is a deeper reason to all this. A body with consciousness (such as the Humanbody) is always energized by the no-mind state, a state in which mind is completely empty.

Death is the foundation of all fears and overcoming fear is the foundation of all adventures. Being invincible in the face of a threatening fear gives the human mind a false yet subtly cogent temporary feeling of immortality. Those moments of battle with your eternal nemesis provides a purpose and a new outlook Intriguingly, this is also the state where one’s creativity is maximized. All great artists, scientists, writers, sportsmen have testified to this fact in the aftermath of their supernormal work. In fact, if you study human sleep cycle, the state of no-mind reached while we sleep which integrates us with the universal consciousness is the prime reason for our daily rejuvenation. As mentioned in Upanishads and Dhammapadas, if you achieve the same process in a conscious state then that becomes meditation. After this overdose of philosophy and psychology, let us understand how all this is related to Dark Tourism.

Humankind and its obsession with death and the resulting obfuscation with immortality is basic construct of its fascination with death. Humankind goes on contriving, inventing, and often eluding to reach its utopian dream of immortality but the bubble bursts in the end as it

always does. The places of death, violence and tragedy in some way manifest our own inner war and peace with respect to the constant struggles we face in our life.

It is a remembrance of the end that causes a new beginning. But is this the only reason; not even close…

Dark Tourism was first coined as a term by Malcolm Foley and J. John Lenn describing it as a phenomenon which encompasses the presentation and consumption of real and commoditized death and disaster sites. According to Tarlow (2005) there are four basic emotions which interact on a dark tourist’s psychological state: insecurity, gratitude, humility and superiority. According to World Travel and Tourism Council all the infamous sites of tragedy are bound together by a shroud of darkness. They exemplify the darker aspects of human experience – crime war, death, murder, atrocity and disaster.

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They also share an additional social phenomenon – Tourism.

Factors that shape tourists’ perception towards dark tourism more often than not revolve around these. Let us understand them one by one.

The Lost Emotions Dark attractions can be a source of multiple feelings as well as can lead to a gamut of feelings unexperienced in one’s normal course of life. Feelings of romanticism can be aroused from visiting a battlefield where the visitor can take pride in the achievements of his forefathers. It can be a cathartic moment where the visitor realizes the hardships and sorrow his ancestors went through and understand how that is bearing fruits for the present generation.

Whereas it can also be to witness the futility of these battles which have resulted in the death of innocent people. Feelings of compassion can be evoked where the visitor empathizes for those who fell prey to acts of terrorism or barbarism. Also, a feeling of superiority can be ignited in the hearts of visitors as they have witnessed how mankind has progressed from those ugly days or how one’s own community flourished in the aftermath of such calamity (manmade or natural). It has also been observed that some of the visitors derive vicarious pleasure by witnessing the vestiges of these acts of human cruelty. Evidences suggest that it not due to pervert nature of the individual himself but also due to the monotonous and boring lives people lead in today’s world. Majority of people today feel trapped in the concrete jungles with the only incentive to do so is to survive. The latent energies which fail to be channelized Strategist | July 2016

often result in disintegration leading to perverse desires. The vicarious pleasure is the result of this trait.

Tourism of mass rape and murder sites in DR Congo, murder and necromancy of Cleopatra, organized mutilation and genocide of Herero tribe in Namibia corroborate this fact. Albanese and Boedeker (2003) have proposed that the individual’s learning, exploring, thought and imagery are all part of his attraction to a kind of tourism.

National Identity Sometimes the national identity itself is the root cause of dark tourism.

The feeling of survival, the feeling of overcoming the darkest phase the community ever faced and the episode without which the present day country would not have any purpose; this is the extent to which dark tourism is important in some context. Many communities have thrived and grown splendidly in the aftermath of horrific incidents faced by their community and dark tourism has been the source of strength, inspiration and belief in their ideals. The founder of the Auschwitz foundation rightly says, “There is only one thing worse than Auschwitz itself… and that is if the world forgets there was such a place”.

Other examples include sites of Armenian genocide and brutal end of the city of Pompeii due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvias.

The ‘sacralization’ of vestiges of these sites and the memorabilia are the things that unite and give a sense of purpose to the affected

communities.

•

Thanatourism

Rojek coined this term which is affiliated to the commercial development of graves and sites where famous people have met sudden and violent death. Owing to lack of purpose and monotonous lives of people, obsessing with celebrities and developing interest in stalking their lives has become quite common. The death of such celebrities gives rise to thanatourism. Examples being Amy Winehouse, Marilyn Monroe, Heath Ledger and many more.

• Semiotics Semiotics of tourism deal with

CONQUEST the signs and images used by the tourism industry. These signs are used for marketing, to add meaning or explain the experience the tourists can have. Waves crashing on to the rocks signifies wild untamed nature, thatched cottage with roses around the door symbolizes countryside England; similarly using the David star, Om symbol or the Christian cross in the images prods tourists to connect with a wide universe related to their religion and not just a place infamous for a bloody altercation between communities. These semiotics still play a big role in dark tourism of Negev Desert, Jerusalem, Jallianwala Bagh, disputed border areas, rubber fields of Congo and many more. The latent imagery leads to connotations of historical incidents combined with grief, horror and death.

• Media Influence

also represents top 5 exports for more than 83% of the countries and main source of foreign currency for 38% of them.

Although domestic tourism currently accounts for two-thirds of all tourist receipts, international tourism is gaining ground and dark tourism is almost 20% of that. Some countries like Poland have dark tourism contributing 80% of the total tourism. Coming from Goa, I know this sector is important as it helps locals to unite and have faith in their principles by remembering their brutal history and not get lost in the glitz of commercial tourism. Hence this sector should be uplifted in a responsible manner such that lines between dark tourism and

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normal tourism don’t get blurred to the point of indecency.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Studies have proved that media (print, social and mainstream) hype is a major contributor to dark tourism. The ability of media to heighten the spectacle around something, developing conspiracy theory and intriguing tourists by giving them a sense of excitement have proliferated dark tourism. Haunted house, Suicides by family, brutal cold blooded murders and rape, stampedes, police firing and many such have been catered to people which triggers the inherent curiosity of many people leading to development of dark tourism spots. The mysticism around some places is a subjective concern, but due to lack of first-hand experience of people in this computer generation, interest level spike due to media reports are not uncommon.

Tourism generates nearly 13.7% of total global G.D.P and

• ITB World Travel Trends Report 2015/2016 • UNWTO Tourism Highlights – 2015 Edition • UNWTO Annual Report 2015 • Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2015 by WEF • Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2015 by WTTC • Travel and Tourism Sector (December 2013) by KPMG India • Annual Report 2014-2015 by Ministry of Tourism • Tourism and Hospitality Industry in India Report by Indian

Brand Equity Foundation • International Journal of Remote Sensing & GIS, Volume

2 Issue 1, 2013 • Yugoslav Journal of Operations Research, Vol 18 2008 • Application of GIS in Ecotourism Development, Case Study

on Bangladesh • GIS Design And Application For Tourism by T. Turk, M. U. Gumusay • The application of GIS and its components in tourism by Verka, 2014

Strategist | July 2016