A major revamp has begun on India’s ‘Incredible India’ digital platform to make it “the world’s best tourism portal” on the instructions of the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi News18 has come to know after a detailed study of the top 10 international tourism websites of the United States, Dubai, Singapore and Switzerland by the government.
it came at a time when India This year the G-20 is holding the presidency. India will upgrade the ‘Incredible India’ website, mobile application and all digital assets used to interact with visitors.
The idea is to make it a ‘tourist centric one stop digital platform’ that will provide information and services to tourists for their entire journey – dreaming, planning, booking, arrival and return. For the first time, the government will collaborate with travel writers, content creators, influencers, photographers and bloggers for content on the portal. Government officials told News18 that it aims to create immersive and 360-degree videos and create a pan-India network for capturing images and videos in far-flung destinations.
lessons to include
The Modi government has benchmarked the best country tourism portals, and studied best practices of portals in the United States, Australia, Dubai, Singapore, Scotland, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Finland and Abu Dhabi.
The idea of content collaboration with influencers and private individuals such as celebrities and bloggers is being borrowed from Australian Tourism Portal and Dubai Portal. The government is also planning to adopt the storytelling format of engaging writing, as it is present on the Switzerland tourism portal. Website content will be linked externally via hyperlinks to official attraction websites and social media channels – as is done on the Portal for Scotland.
The content will include details about places, destinations, accommodation, means of transport, frequency of visits, services in hotels and prices of hotels. The focus will also be on high quality images and videos. Studies show that 90 percent of the information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed in the brain 60,000 times faster than text. Hence, passengers also need to feel motivated enough to book travel, the officials said citing 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 images.
Interactive maps of popular destinations will be created, such as in the US, and detailed itineraries and road trips will be suggested. An annual calendar of events and festivals across the country will also be suggested in a region-wise manner. Trip-planning assistance will be provided to visitors like Abu Dhabi, USA, Singapore and Dubai tourism websites and the ‘Incredible India’ website will also provide real-time destination-wise weather information including weather forecast. Money changers 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 various attractions as well as fares and cabs directly on the ‘Incredible India’ platform. Visitors will be provided with tourism offers, push notification about events on their mobile platform based on their interest, must-visits and more services among other criteria such as 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 ratings for various services. Monthly personalized email newsletters will be sent, as will the Australia Tourism website, and a social media campaign will be conducted.
The government also plans to incorporate ‘My Incredible India’ as a ‘Section 25 Company’ with a CEO and four managers to create potential for digital tourism in India. It could be on the lines of MyGov and Invest India, though a final decision is yet to be taken.
PM’s idea
According to a vision document on the ‘way forward’ for the platform, the idea is to cover all ‘digital touch points’ in a visitor’s journey, from planning a trip to sharing the experience of traveling to India.
“According to Google, more than 65 percent of leisure travelers begin researching online before deciding where or how they want to travel. After checking other websites, eventually every traveler will go to the destination website. As the digital alter ego of the U.S., it is the closest representation of what ‘the real thing’ can feel like, something that social media cannot deliver. First impressions have a profound effect on how visitors perceive a destination’s brand. are,” says the vision document for the latest website.
The idea for India is to integrate information and services from different states, destinations and other hospitality, travel and tourism stakeholders – and target a global audience. Officials said the Prime Minister wishes that the ‘Incredible India’ portal becomes a focal point for information, experiences and services for tourists across the world, thereby increasing visitor satisfaction and making India a favorite destination and “the world in love”. Fall “with India”.
read all latest india news Here