A mega revamp of India’s ‘Incredible India’ digital platform to make it the “best tourism portal in the world” has started on the directions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after a detailed study by the government of the top 10 international tourism websites of USA, Dubai, Singapore and Switzerland among others, News18 has learnt.
This comes at a time when India is holding the G-20 Presidency this year. India will be revamping the ‘Incredible India’ website, the mobile application and all digital assets used to interact with the visitors.
The idea is to make it a ‘tourist centric one stop digital platform’ which will provide the tourists with information and services all through their journey — from dreaming, planning, booking, visiting, and returning. For the first time, the government will collaborate with travel writers, content producers, influencers, photographers and bloggers for content on the portal. This is aimed at creation of immersive and 360-degree videos and having a pan-India network for capturing images and videos in far-fetched destinations, government officials told News18.
Lessons To Be Incorporated
The Modi government has benchmarked best country tourism portals, and studied best practices of portals of USA, Australia, Dubai, Singapore, Scotland, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Finland, and Abu Dhabi.
The idea of content collaboration with private persons like influencers and celebrities and bloggers is being borrowed from the Australian tourism portal and the Dubai portal. The government also plans to adopt the story-telling format of captivating write-ups, as it exists on the Switzerland tourism portal. The website content will be externally linked via hyperlinks to official attraction websites and linking to social media channels — like it is done on Scotland’s portal.
The content would include details on locations, destinations, accommodation, mode of transport, frequency of visits, services at hotels and details about prices of hotels. The focus will also be on high quality images and videos. Studies show that 90 per cent information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. Hence, travellers also need to feel sufficiently inspired to book a trip, officials said, citing the global experience.
MoUs will be signed with travel writers, editors, content producers, freelance writers, brand writers, influencers, photographers, and bloggers, for sourcing such content and pictures.
Interactive maps of popular destinations will be created, like in the US, and detailed itineraries and road trips will be suggested. A yearly calendar of events and festivals across the country will also be suggested in a region-wise manner. Trip-planning help will be provided to visitors like by Abu Dhabi, USA, Singapore, and Dubai Tourism websites and the ‘Incredible India’ website will also provide real-time destination-wise weather information, including weather forecasts. Currency convertors and visa information details will also be available.
There will be integration with service providers for flight and hotel bookings, booking facility for tickets to the various attractions directly on ‘Incredible India’ platform as well as for rentals and cabs. Visitors would be provided with push notification regarding events, must-visit attractions, and more services on their mobile platform based on their nearness to tourism offerings, their interest among other such criteria, like on the Singapore portal. Location-based services will be provided for nearby restaurants, attractions, hotels, hospitals, police stations, banks and ATMs and nearby public toilets.
Tourists will also be able to give their feedback online and give rating for the various services. Monthly personalised email newsletters will be sent out, as by Australia tourism website, and a social media campaign will be held.
The government also plans that ‘My Incredible India’ be incorporated as a ‘Section 25 company’ with a CEO and four managers to create capacity for digital tourism in India. This could be on the lines of MyGov and Invest India though a final call is yet to be taken.
PM’s Idea
As per a vision document on the ‘way ahead’ for the platform, the idea is to cover all ‘digital touch points’ in a visitor’s journey, right from planning of the trip to sharing the experience of the journey to India.
“According to Google, more than 65 per cent of leisure travellers begin researching online before they decide where or how they want to travel. After checking other websites, eventually, every traveller will visit the destination website. As the destination’s digital alter ego, it is the closest representation of what the ‘real thing’ may feel like, something that social media can’t deliver. The first impression profoundly impacts how the visitors perceive the destination’s brand,” the vision document for the revamped website says.
The idea for India is to integrate the information and services from various states, destinations and other hospitality, travel & tourism stakeholders — and target the global audience. Officials said the prime minister has desired that the ‘Incredible India’ portal should become a focal point for information, experiences, and services for tourists across the world thereby increasing visitor satisfaction and make India as a preferred destination and “make the world fall in love with India”.
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