India fast emerging as health, well-being destination : Business : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)
India fast emerging as health, well-being destination
The Yomiuri Shimbun
India has earned a reputation as a health and wellness destination, and is now seeing a growth in medical tourism, according to Gopalakrishnan Venkataraman, East Asia regional director of Indiatourism in Tokyo.
"Because of its developing medical science infrastructure, medical tourism in India is on the increase," Venkataraman said in a recent interview. "Because it's cost-effective and affordable, many people from Britain, mainland Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia come to India for treatment. Medical tourism is a growing market in India, now worth about 12 billion dollars."
Ayurveda--"science of life"--which provides permanent cures for illness, is based on 5,000-year-old ancient medicine, using herbs and roots that provide natural care, according to Venkataraman.
Not only a medical destination, more and more Japanese visitors are looking to India as a cultural, spiritual, fashion and economic destination, Venkataraman said.
"The world has realized that India has many things to offer, not only from a tourism point of view, but economic, science and technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and information technology points of view," he said. "India is increasingly recognized as a destination with many facets." Venkataraman said about 150,000 Japanese people visited India last year, the most from East Asia.
India has become a favored destination for individual travelers. According to a survey conducted by Lonely Planet, an Australian travel guide publisher, in 2005, India ranked the second in the list of 10 popular destinations for individual travelers after Australia. The United States ranked third and Japan fourth.
To promote tourism, India launched a three-year campaign called Atithi Devo Bhava (ABD) last year. Atithi Devo Bhava means "The visitor is a god" in Sanskrit.
"We are looking at tourists as gods. If Japanese people come to India, we treat them as gods," Venkataraman said.
"We have 28 World Heritage Sites approved by UNESCO and, in addition, each prefecture and each province in India has a different culture," he said. "If you go to India, you can see a world of different lifestyles."
India also is a top IT destination in the world, Venkataraman stressed.
"We are increasingly known as an IT destination and Indiatourism launched a campaign called 'IT with Beauty' in the Far East," Venkataraman said. "The campaign combined India's IT prowess with picturesque places and beautiful people of India. India's Miss Universe and Miss World, who held the center stage for many years, have become India's brand ambassadors to enhance the country's image."
Venkataraman also said that his office packages IT tours in collaboration with IT companies in India that have started giving project-management and IT-related training to staff of companies abroad, as well as providing IT tourists with information about places of interest to visit during their stay.
"Corporate Japan is looking toward India as an incentive destination," Venkataraman said. "If employees did a good job or achieved a target, a company sends them on a holiday package to India at the company's cost. For example, Suzuki Motor Corp. is sending 2,600 employees, in several groups, to India on a five-day incentive holiday this month."
Venkataraman emphasized that India as a tourist and investment destination welcomes Japanese people.
"India and Japan will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Indian-Japanese cultural ties in 2007," he said. "Japan and India have maintained a good relationship."
The Yomiuri Shimbun
India has earned a reputation as a health and wellness destination, and is now seeing a growth in medical tourism, according to Gopalakrishnan Venkataraman, East Asia regional director of Indiatourism in Tokyo.
"Because of its developing medical science infrastructure, medical tourism in India is on the increase," Venkataraman said in a recent interview. "Because it's cost-effective and affordable, many people from Britain, mainland Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia come to India for treatment. Medical tourism is a growing market in India, now worth about 12 billion dollars."
Ayurveda--"science of life"--which provides permanent cures for illness, is based on 5,000-year-old ancient medicine, using herbs and roots that provide natural care, according to Venkataraman.
Not only a medical destination, more and more Japanese visitors are looking to India as a cultural, spiritual, fashion and economic destination, Venkataraman said.
"The world has realized that India has many things to offer, not only from a tourism point of view, but economic, science and technology, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and information technology points of view," he said. "India is increasingly recognized as a destination with many facets." Venkataraman said about 150,000 Japanese people visited India last year, the most from East Asia.
India has become a favored destination for individual travelers. According to a survey conducted by Lonely Planet, an Australian travel guide publisher, in 2005, India ranked the second in the list of 10 popular destinations for individual travelers after Australia. The United States ranked third and Japan fourth.
To promote tourism, India launched a three-year campaign called Atithi Devo Bhava (ABD) last year. Atithi Devo Bhava means "The visitor is a god" in Sanskrit.
"We are looking at tourists as gods. If Japanese people come to India, we treat them as gods," Venkataraman said.
"We have 28 World Heritage Sites approved by UNESCO and, in addition, each prefecture and each province in India has a different culture," he said. "If you go to India, you can see a world of different lifestyles."
India also is a top IT destination in the world, Venkataraman stressed.
"We are increasingly known as an IT destination and Indiatourism launched a campaign called 'IT with Beauty' in the Far East," Venkataraman said. "The campaign combined India's IT prowess with picturesque places and beautiful people of India. India's Miss Universe and Miss World, who held the center stage for many years, have become India's brand ambassadors to enhance the country's image."
Venkataraman also said that his office packages IT tours in collaboration with IT companies in India that have started giving project-management and IT-related training to staff of companies abroad, as well as providing IT tourists with information about places of interest to visit during their stay.
"Corporate Japan is looking toward India as an incentive destination," Venkataraman said. "If employees did a good job or achieved a target, a company sends them on a holiday package to India at the company's cost. For example, Suzuki Motor Corp. is sending 2,600 employees, in several groups, to India on a five-day incentive holiday this month."
Venkataraman emphasized that India as a tourist and investment destination welcomes Japanese people.
"India and Japan will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Indian-Japanese cultural ties in 2007," he said. "Japan and India have maintained a good relationship."
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