Hey, I'm a digital marketer by profession & recently I wanted to start a business around travel and tourism.
I’m from India (the home of the oldest culture in the world). I worked with a travel startup for five months and got the opportunity to learn about tourism in more than 50 countries.
During my job, I observed that most of the countries had activities/experience tour packages, which tourists used to buy in order to know about the culture of that place.
To explain you better, I’m writing down some types of activities/experiences a tourist can try while traveling-
• Food tour in Athens
• Sumo wrestling in Japan
• Wine Tour in New Zealand
• Fish Market tour in Indonesia
• Cooking classes tour in Thailand
• Souvenir handicraft tour in Turkey
What I’m trying to explain is that you’ll most likely find a tour that gives a local/cultural experience. Most of the countries have successfully found a way to earn from their culture.
I’m not happy to say but I realized that India is lagging way behind most of the countries. Tour packages are not well organized here.
I don’t know how many people know about India but I can guarantee that there is no place where you will find more such activities or experiences than in India.
To support my statement, I’ll quickly present you a glimpse what travelers can expect in India other than popular monuments/attractions-
• Dhanurvidya (the ancient art of Bows and Arrows)
• The sacred Ganga Aarti (amazing experience on the banks of River Ganga)
• Food Tour (There are so many authentic foods in India that I can’t even mention here)
• Kolhapuri Chappal production tour (special world-famous footwear manufacturing tour)
• Shopping Tour (variety of handicraft, clothing, fruits, etc.)
• Folk Dance experience (you can find more than 20 different folk dance in India)
• Yoga retreat & experience
• Dangal (Wrestling experience)
• And a lot more experiences that I can’t mention here...
Now, let’s come back to the point.
I know that there is immense opportunity in tourism in India. But, the real issue is, how can I monetize these activities/experiences?
Am I thinking in the right way?
What could be done to bring this idea to a platform/service?
There are a lot of questions in my mind and I can’t figure out what and how to fill the massive gap in Indian travel industry?
What do you think?
I welcome your opinion, support, and thoughts on it.
Thank you so much.