India should be at the front-line of an ongoing global battle to attract tourist
₹123,500 for a lake-view room to ₹360,000 for its lower-priced suites. Dither while deliberating whether ₹560,000 for a 53-59-square-metre Royal suite is worth it, and the website warns in red letters that these are the last few available in this category. Nice work if you can get it, as they say.
The irony is that it is the rich world that tops the WEF travel and tourism development index (TTDI). The West has superior infrastructure for travel, better connectivity and realized early on that visas were not necessary for fellow developed world nations because pre-travel online registration of travel document details makes it redundant. The WEF report notes, “Aside from the United States (2nd), the top 10 scoring countries are high-income economies in the Europe and Eurasia or Asia-Pacific regions.
Japan tops the ranking, with fellow regional economies Australia and Singapore coming in 7th and 9th, respectively. The remaining top 10 TTDI performers are Spain (3rd), France (4th), Germany (5th), Switzerland (6th) and the United Kingdom (8th)." I have lost count of how many friends have told me to travel to Japan and how easy obtaining a visa is, but, more than 20 years ago, I recall the Japanese visa process required submitting a declaration that my employer had sufficient funds to meet my travel costs if it became necessary to deport me. Despite political attacks on immigrants in the US and UK, when it comes to tourists, almost every country wants more.
The developed world even has some destinations that are seizing up because of too many travellers. Cities like Barcelona and Seville in Spain, which received 84 million tourists last year, have imposed rules to curb the excesses of stag and hen parties. Fines on drinking and
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