A problem of plenty

For the Indian tourism industry these are the best of times, for the tourists visiting India they are the worst of times. India received a record 3.8 million inbound tourists in 2006, a growth of 15 % over 2006. The country earned $6 billion in foreign exchange between January to October 2007 from the tourism industry.
Even as India becomes the destination of the world, even as its hotels and destinations get fêted by the top tourism magazines as the world’s best, its woeful lack of infrastructure stands exposed.
The civil aviation sector, the back bone of the tourism boom, is the most problematic. The two major airports of Delhi and Mumbai are in a total mess. The respected Foreign Policy Journal of the USA recently ranked the Delhi airport as the worst in the world. Chaotic increase in flights, poor parking for cars, near-miss accidents and a run-down national airline all contribute to give a poor picture of India as soon as the foreigner lands here. Smaller airports at places like Bangalore are lacking in basics like top quality radars.
The hospitality industry has done no better. There is a woeful lack of quality three-star hotels and you have a tariff structure way out of tune from the amenities offered by the five-star hotels in India.
01/12/07 Financial Express

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Categories: Airports Dec 2007, General Aviation Dec 2007