Book review

REVIEWBOOKBRANDING !NDIA By Amitabh Kant

About the Author :-

Amitabh Kant

->Amitabh Kant is a civil servant by profession.

->He worked as a joint secretary in Ministry of Tourism from 2001 to 2007.

->Kant was one of the key drivers of Tourism. Earlier, as secretary of tourism in Kerala, he had put the state on the international tourism map by imaginatively building on the God’s Own country brand.

->Currently Kant is posted as principal secretary and special commissioner(industries) Kerala.

The book provides deep insights in to the formulation of campaign and how a crisis can be converted in to a opportunity.

The book is insightful, thought provoking, superbly researched and deftly crafted.It’s a engaging story of how he made India a tourism juggernaut.

He talks about the potential growth areas such as medical and rural tourism, and new enablers such as internet and social networks.

He also advocates low-volume, high-value tourism instead of low-value backpacking travel, which perhaps does not meet the overall purpose of travel. A scholarly book that is full of personal insights into a

remarkable growth story and an inspiring business case study.

In the book, Kant talks about the infrastructure requirements for growing this untapped industry, which includes hotels, modes of transport, basic infrastructure and softer aspects such as culture, safety and security.

Theme:-History of the remarkable transformation in Indian tourism in the last seven years.

Tourism was down in the dumps in India. It was at the peak of this crisis that the "Incredible India" campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched.

This is the story of how that campaign triggered the take-off of Indian tourism, and how support sectors like aviation, hotels and infrastructure grew in tandem so that in 2008 India got 5.38 million visitors compared to 2.54 million in 2001.

Contents: -> The making of brand called Incredible !ndia

-> God’s own country : A Brand

-> Infrastructure : Propping up the fundamentals->AIR TRANSPORT

->HOTELS->E-BUSINESS->HEALTHCARE->POVERTY ALLEVIATION

->FUTURE OF TOURISM

The making of brand called Incredible !ndia

-> SEVERE CRISIS

-> LACK OF MEANINGFUL IDENTITY

-> SLEEPING GIANT

-> INDIA’S SHARE IN WORLD TOURISM

-> MAJOR ENGINE

-> MORE THAN MERE ADVERTISING

-> AN INTEGRATED PR EXCERCISE

-> ATITHI DEVO BHAVAH…!!!

God’s own country KERALA WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

-> SUPER BRAND

-> LONG ASSOCIATION WITH KERALA

-> ONE OF THE 10 EXOTIC PARADISES OF THE WORLD

-> MEDICAL TOURISM AND AYURVEDA

-> EMPLOYMENT-12 LAKH PEOPLE

-> 360’ DEGREE DEVELOPMENT

INFRASTRUCTURE: Propping up the fundamentals

->INTERNATIONAL IMAGE: Eliminati on of tourism

defi ciencies

->MICE HOLIDAY: More conferences

->HR DVPT:175 insti tutes

6.47 lac people needed

Air transportLow cost carriers

Potential for growth

Airport infrastructure

Potential growth

Health care

Capacity constraints

Absence of budget hotels

Creating room for growth

E-Business Making travel and tourism click

Holistic healing in India

Medical tourism

Cost differential

Crisis in health care systemHEALTHCARE:

POVERTY ALLEVIATION Rural Tourism

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

CRITICISMS:THE BOOK TALKS MUCH ABOUT KERALA.

IT COMPARES THE CAMPAIGN WITH DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

IT DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR, JAMMU AND KASHMIR. AND OTHER IMPORTANT TOURIST PLACES

ANY QUESTIONS

THANK YOU

HITESH JAINREGNO.1020060

MBA SEC-A