October 23, 2004

Are Indians the new Japanese?News

What do I mean? Well anyone that has traveled abroad extensively or even within the U.S. knows that no matter where you go, you will encounter a flock of Japanese tourists with cameras slung around their necks. Rediff.com points to trends showing that soon Indians may be the ubiquitous tourists:

But why are countries going all out to attract Indians? “They spend money,” says Edward Chew, spokesperson of the Singapore Tourism Board. Last year, Indians were the highest spending travelling community in Singapore with an average daily spend of S$200-300.

They beat the Japanese who till the year before last were the highest spenders. Singapore recorded 309,383 arrivals from India last year of which 34 per cent were leisure travelers. However, because of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), 2003 was a bad year for tourist traffic. In 2002, 375,000 Indians visited Singapore, which was an increase of 10.5 per cent over 2001.

The fact that Indians splurge on shopping, of course, makes them the favourites of various countries. But shopping isn’t the only thing they spend heavily on.

Great. Not only are we stereotyped as convenience store clerks and cab drivers but now this new potential caricature as well.

abhi on October 23, 2004 04:21 PM in News · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post