Branding India: An Incredible Story

by Amitabh Kant

A case history of the remarkable transformation in Indian tourism in the last seven years. In 2001-2002, after the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the war on Afghanistan and the attack on Indian Parliament, tourism was down in the dumps in India. It was at the peak of this crisis that the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. This is the story of how that campaign triggered the take-off of Indian tourism, and how support sectors like aviation, hotels and infrastructure grew in tandem so that in 2008 India got 5.38 million visitors compared to 2.54 million in 2001. The author, Amitabh Kant, played a key role in this phenomenon as joint secretary in the Union ministry of tourism. He writes a scholarly book that is full of personal insights into a remarkable story of growth.

Genres: India, History

282 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Janani · Rating 2 out of 5]

No wonder this book has only one edition.

Amitabh Kant an IAS officer was responsible for both the Kerala tourism campaign and the Incredible !ndia campaign. Here he writes his thoughts on tourism, its benefits and potential pitfalls.

I felt the book fell flat because it tried to be two things, a case study and a collection of anecdotes, and did neither well. The production quality of the book was great. The arrangement and typesetting needed a lot of work. You have to keep trying to find the relevant 'Boxes' on the pages after and before the box is mentioned. There are also small cases which interrupt the flow of the text and made it a chore to read. There were pages and pages of statistics on unfortunately out of date information.

However, Amitabh Kant has done a great job as a Secretary both in the Tourism ministry and now as part of the Make in India campaign and the admiration I have for him motivated me to read this book.

[Santhosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about branding of tourism in India! This was a 5-star long before even the Incredible India campaign was a glint in the eye of Kant.

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Branding India: An Incredible Story (Paperback) by Amitabh Kant- In the year 2023, so many International Institutional level conferences are being organsied in India. Some Books are needed to show the development in India after Modi Government took oath of office in 2014. This book displays a case history of the remarkable transformation in Indian tourism in the last seven years. In 2001-2002, after the destruction of the World Trade Centre, the war on Afghanistan and the attack on Indian Parliament, tourism was down in the dumps in India. It was at the peak of this crisis that the Incredible India campaign to position India as a tourist destination was launched. This is the story of how that campaign triggered the take-off of Indian tourism, and how support sectors like aviation, hotels and infrastructure grew in tandem so that in 2008 India got 5.38 million visitors compared to 2.54 million in 2001. The author, Amitabh Kant, played a key role in this phenomenon as joint secretary in the Union ministry of tourism. He writes a scholarly book that is full of personal insights into a remarkable story of growth. Author has been appointed a delegate and Sherpa for the G-20 Forum.

[Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great look at India's "Incredible India" campaign from the inside. I think it would as interesting to the casual reader as useful to an academic or business-minded reader. Kant gives an authoritative point of view about the Indian government's vision towards tourism that is quite rare (meaning that it is hard to find, not that his viewpoint is rare). His vision touches on a number of aspects of India's tourism "brand" (though I would say his attachment to the power of brand is maybe a little too much): tradition like Ayurvedic spa treatments, handcrafts, Buddhist-interest tourism, nature-tourism, and more. The wide range of topics and strategies covered by this book is definitely a strength; many other sources try to look at specific target markets (e.g. the West; before I read this book, I hadn't even realized the potential for tourists from Southeast Asia and China to come to India to see Buddhist architecture and influences). The graphics are wonderful. Maybe this just comes out of my own lack of knowledge about the history of the Indian economy, but Kant puts a lot of focus on expanding regulations and raising standards (because that will raise the level of quality for tourists) while simultaneously appreciating the way the 1991 liberalisation opened up the free market in India. Am I wrong to see a contradiction there?

[Abhay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Vennila M · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was awesome