Incredible India Campaign

Presented by SOURAV SINHA

The Issues

Communications strategy followed by the Tourism Department of the Government of India in its ‘Incredible India’ campaigns to promote tourism in India

The reasons for the success of this campaign in comparison to the earlier ones.

Despite using different forms of communications for promoting the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, the tourism department has never really taken the help of a Public Relations campaign.

But in view of the tsunami, the Tourism Department initiated PR activities.

How can the PR activities of the tourism department help to project India as a safe and secure destination?

The tourism industry is one of the most profitable industries in India and is also credited with contributing a substantial amount of foreign exchange.

It is the largest service industry in India, with

a contribution of 6.23% to the national GDP and 8.78% to the total employment in India.

India witnesses approximately 5 million annual foreign tourist arrivals every year.

The tourism industry also helps growth in other sectors as diverse as horticulture, handicrafts, agriculture, construction and even poultry. Both directly and indirectly, increased tourism in India has and will create job opportunities in a variety of related sectors.

Overview

Security and safety of international tourists

Defacement of the national heritage monuments and tourist spots

The attitude of a section of Indians

Growing disposable income in India Growth in IT and outsourcing industry

in India leading to a growing number of business trips by foreigners, who often add a weekend break

Approximately 5 million foreign tourist arrivals every year.

The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts the highest 10-year growth potential.

The Commonwealth Games 2010

In spite of an incredible wealth of Tourist Attractions, India still lags far behind other SE Asian competitors. Last year, Singapore had 7 mn, Thailand 9.6 mn and Malaysia 11.5 mn international visitors.

The Communication

The ‘Incredible India Campaign’ was launched in 2002 to boost tourism in India which in turn will generate revenue for the country.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah Program' was introduced later in 2005 to create awareness among the people about the effects of tourism and sensitize people about the preservations of our cultural heritage and cooperate with the foreign tourist.

The first marketing initiative of its kind, Incredible India was conceptualized in 2002 by V Sunil (while he was Creative Director, O&M Delhi), and Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism.

The primary objective of this branding exercise was to create a distinctive identity for the country.

This resulted in the iconic ”Incredible !ndia” logo, where the exclamation mark that formed the “I” of India was used to great effect across all communications.

The campaign successfully established India as a high-end tourist destination, generating a 16% increase in tourist traffic in the first year.

The Incredible Evolution

The early campaigns simply focused on highlighting the Incredible India logo. The exclamation mark that formed the ‘I” of India was used creatively across several visuals.

In the second year, the campaign focused on spiritual tourism. The content and execution were designed to appeal to the up-market individual traveler.

The Incredible Evolution (contd.)

Buoyed by the encouraging response of the first phase of campaigns, the 2006-07 campaign went beyond showcasing the logo.

It showcased the diversity of India alright but did so in a tone & manner that was full of wry wit.

The Incredible Evolution (contd.)

There was also a quiet confidence on display – almost the ‘we are like this only’ tone – in the 2007 ‘India Now’ campaign in London.

The Incredible Evolution (contd.)

The 2007-08 campaign continued with the jaw-dropping diversity of India, featuring breathtaking images and a clever pun as headline.

The Incredible India experience was also brought alive in several exhibitions and events like the India@60 campaign in New York

The Incredible Evolution (contd.)

The 2008-09 print campaign features portraits of people who came in as tourists but stayed back to make India their home.

It conveys how strong an impact India can have on an individual motivating a foreigner to make it his or her motherland.

A new TV Commercial also made its way into the Indian television, showcasing the experiences of a foreigner in India, prompting him to describe it as ‘Incredible India’.

The Accolades

The 'Incredible India' campaign, has won the World Travel Award 2009 for being the best destination marketing campaign of the year in London.

The new ‘Incredible India’ promotional film, which showcases India's major holiday destinations, won Grand Prix Award CIFFT 2009 (The International Committee of Tourism Film Festivals) in Vienna after winning a series of international awards at Berlin, Poland, Romania, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic and Croatia.

Winner of the much-coveted PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) awards in multiple categories several times in 2004, 2005, 2007 & 2009.

Since the start in 2002, the “Incredible India“, the campaign has been in the lime-light.The Incredible India promotional film has been used extensively in global platforms like Oscar, Grammy and BAFTA award functions and has received worldwide recognition.

The campaign is a truly concerted effort ensuring that there isn’t a huge gap between expectation and delivery on the ground.

It is also a testimony to the power of focus. A single-minded message was brought alive on the Internet, through events and exhibitions, press ads and TV.

"The `Incredible India' positioning and branding has focused on what makes India unique and unmatched in the tourism world. This has brought back the discerning traveler to India.“

Amitabh Kant, Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Tourism, 2003

“Before (the Incredible India campaign), India was being promoted differently in different countries, if at all. There weren't two or three distinct images. This campaign changed that."

Lavanya Anirudh, Account Director, Ogilvy & Mather (India), 2004

The impact of the “Incredible India” campaign is reflected in the increase in the number of international tourist arrivals from 2.38 million in the year 2002 to an estimated 5.5 million in the year 2010.

The Result

The Key Drivers

Timely Initiative & the Vision of Mr. Amitabh Kanth. Quality and Consistency of the Campaign Aggressive Promotion in the Print, Electronic and Web

media Active Annual International media campaigns by the

ministry of tourism in important source markets overseas, to promote "Incredible India" as a tourist destination.

Effective PR Apt selection of ‘Brand Ambassador’, Aamir Khan for PR

in 2008 Adequate Govt. support in terms of Budget and

favorable Policies. E.g. The Union Budget 2010 has allotted more than INR

1,000 Crore to Ministry of Tourism India. Budget for ‘Incredible India‘ campaign increased by

INR 62.3 Crore for 2010-11 from previous year 2009-10.

The Tsunami

Tsunami, the killer waves triggered by an undersea earthquake in distant Indonesia, slammed into India's coastline state of Tamil Nadu and the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands causing severe damages.

DECEMBER 26, 2004

The Impact on TourismThe Tsunami had a disastrous effect on social and economic life of the affected regions like Andaman & Nicobar Islands (ANI). Local Tourism suffered indeed, as the tourists simply stopped coming, scared off by all the negative publicity. Just 3,300 people made it in the first quarter of 2005, a drop of more than 90 percent.

But it did not make any significant difference in the overall tourism scenario in India because The Tsunami hit ANI lie 1,200 km off India's eastern coast, far away from the big

tourist spots such as Goa or Rajasthan. The Andaman islands were always one of India's least known tourist destinations, Top four (4) states captures more than 75% of total market share of Indian

domestic tourist visits.

In fact Tourist arrivals in India rose 23.5 per cent in December ‘04 from a year ago.A government statement on January ’05 said that the number of foreign visitors in the past month increased to 394,166 from 319,271 a year earlier while foreign exchange earnings rose 30.2 per cent to $498.24 million in the same period.

Public Relation InitiativesAlthough the PR program “Atithi Devo Bhavah” complementing the original ‘Incredible India’ campaign was introduced in 2005 but it was not a response to tsunami.

This Public Relations campaign was initiated with the following objectives:

The key objective of the campaign was to build awareness leading to a behavioural shift of our people.

The long term objective is to re-instil and re-enforce the confidence of foreign tourists towards India as a preferred holiday destination

This has been a great success.The commercial gained more popularity and mileage with the inclusion of Aamir Khan as the ‘Brand Ambassador’

The Road Ahead

International tourist arrival in India

is expected to grow with a CAGR of 7.9% for the period spanning 2010-2015.

Domestic tourist visits is expected to increase with a CAGR of 12.29% for the period spanning 2008-2015.

Indian tourism Foreign Exchange Earnings is expected to grow with a CAGR of 7.9% for the period spanning 2010-2015. Flourishing Medical Tourism India medical tourism market is expected to be more than US$ 2 Billion by

2013. The number of medical tourist arrivals in India is expected to increase by a

CAGR of 24.6% from 2009 to 2013.