Tourism in India is a tale of amazing potential, confusing paradoxes, missed opportunities and massive under utilisation of resources. Compared to rest of the tourist hotspots around the world, India has mind boggling variety of tourist attractions of all types which can attract almost every single type of tourist out there. Ancient archaeological heritage of India which goes back to nearly 4000 years is spread all over India, from Laddakh to Kanyakumari.
India is blessed with such awe inspiring ancient monuments at a scale unrivaled by any other country in the world. Forts of Rajput rulers in Rajasthan, artful temples of Bundels, luxurious monuments constructed by Mughals, amazingly beautiful Konkan temples are just a small fraction of this wealth spread across it’s length and breadth. Adventure tourists have some of the best and virtually untouched destinations in Laddakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttranchal, Sikkim, Mizoram and other north-eastern states . Wild life enthusiasts have the option of seeing some of the rarest wildlife not found anywhere else in world in Gir, Jim Corbett and many other national parks.
Adventure tourism, specially in north-eastern states has a lot of potential but hasn’t been explored even partially. The north-eastern states states have some of the best places for adventure activities like trekking, mountain climbing, camping and much more. Culinary tourism in India which has the biggest potential is just a small speck. Considering the vast culinary diversity of India, the country should be the top destination for all foodie tourists.
So many religions like Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism originated in India and their followers from all over the world wish to visit places important to their faiths. Medical tourism in India due to high quality healthcare at very low prices attracts people from all over the world. Culture and food junkies can’t find any place better than India with it’s diversity in languages, people, food, music, literature and culture which go back thousands of years. To top that, India is one of the cheapest tourist destinations compared to most of western countries. There is no other country in the world which offers so much diversity in such a package. Anyone would think that with so many blessings, India would be the tourist hub of the world. To top it all, India is one of the cheapest destinations in the world for tourists.
In 2011, 62 lakh foreigner tourists arrived in India. Tourism sector in India employs nearly 4 crore people and is $ 121 billion dollar industry. Seems impressive, only till compared to 2.5 crore tourists per year Malaysia which has little to offer except beaches and and cheap shopping. Top tourist destination in world is France with 8.2 crore tourists in 2011 and 8.3 crore in 2012. India is not even in top 10 tourist destinations in world or even Asia. It’s actually ranked 38, preceded by countries like Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Egypt and even Tunisia. Just for sake of perspective, go through the following list:
( 1 million = 10 lakh, 100 lakh = 1 crore)
Country No. of tourists
Tourism in India is more than just Taj Mahal, Chandratal Lake, Spiti
Turkey 3.5 crore
Morocco 92 lakh
Tunisia 69 lakh
South Africa 80 lakh
China 5.8 crore
Saudi Arab 1.7 crore
Egypt 94 lakh
Thailand 1.9 crore
Looking at these figures, one can’t help but wonder what is wrong with Indian tourism sector. It’s not that people around the world are unaware of what India has to offer. Established travel forums like TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet are full of foreigners discussing and asking for information related to travel in India. Sections related to India are the ones with maximum number of posters. On Tripadvisor, India section has more than 10000 threads, exceeded only by 15000 threads of Thaliand. A lot people from all over the world wish to visit India but are turned away by numerous factors.
Some of such issues are:
1) Complicated visa procedures: Infamous Indian red tape and bureaucracy is a nuisance outside the country too. Unlike other tourist hotspots, India makes it much more difficult and expensive for tourists to get a visa. India offers on arrival visa to only a handful of countries including Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and 4-5 others. In comparison, Malaysia offers on arrival visa to majority of countries except Israel, India, China and some African countries.
2) Bad infrastructure : Even though rapid development is happening, India is still a long way from having a world class tourist infrastructure.
3) Safety : Image of India has taken a severe beating recently due to various factors. Pakistan sponsored terrorism in various parts of India is also a big turn 0ff.
4) Lack Of Promotion Unlike other countries where governments and private organisations, spend large amounts of money and effort to promote tourism in their own countries, Indian efforts in this case have been very limited. Incredible India campaign which was launched with much fanfare a few years back ran out of steam pretty quickly.
Above mentioned points are not unique to just India. A lot of countries face similar problems, have very little tourist attractions but still manage to attract many more tourists than India. We need to learn from them and make necessary changes as soon as possible. Some recent high profile projects like Golden Quadrilateral Highway project, Delhi Agra expressway, high speed trains with bio toilets etc are steps in right direction. But a lot more needs to be done. A lot of our customers are solo travelers, men and women of all ages. Some of them spend months or even years traveling inside India without facing any problem. But the recent bad press and selective reporting has messed up image of India badly. In an industry where perception counts for a lot, an effort has to be made to promote the attractions and good points of India rather than just the bad news.
Development of infrastructure accompanied by positive publicity should be the top priority for us. There have been small baby steps, but what we need is a sustained organised effort.
India Food Tour: Social Media Posts, Aug 2022 Indian Cooking ClassesCooking classes in India are a fun and authentic way to learn Indian cooking as it’s really meant to be. India Food Tour’s cooking classes teach how to cook Indian dishes in a shortest possible amount of time with easily available ingredients without compromising on taste and quality. Depending upon their expertise, guests can choose to learn different dishes in each class. Even people familiar to Indian cooking can learn the finer details about what makes Indian food so special. Travel Packages Of India For FoodiesThese trips are the best combination of culinary exploration, sightseeing and all round best travel experience. We’ve designed these tours for tourists who wish to enjoy exploring food, culture, sights and do some fun activities without any compromise . These are all private tours and best suited for couples, solo travelers and small groups of friends and family who wish to enjoy their vacation on their own terms.#culinarytravel #culinarytours #loveoffood#IndiaFoodTour #foodlover #foodexplorer#cookingclass #cooking #chef #culinary India is the land where numerous cultures took birth thousands of years ago and enriched the land with their philosophy, thoughts, architecture art, literature and cuisines. Unlike most other civilisations, these didn’t fade away with time. India was and still a place where ancient and modern co-exist in all their diversity.#IndiaFoodTour #foodlover #foodexplorer#cookingclass #cooking #chef #culinary #phototours #photowalks #travelpics #travelphotos Food Tours In IndiaIndia Food Tour offers exciting food tours in a number of cities across India. As each province in India boasts of a unique culture and cuisine, these food tours are an excellent way of experiencing the all the aspects in one exciting day out. These are enjoyable way to make your trip to India memorable, delicious and can be grouped alongside most sightseeing tours.#IndiaFoodTour #foodlover #foodexplorer#cookingclass #cooking #chef #culinary The Real India ExperienceIndia Food Tour provides custom made India culinary tour packages with Indian food tours, cooking classes, tea tasting, wine tasting, photo tours, bar crawls and many other fun things to do in India. These activities can be included in almost any general travel itinerary as addons. For more serious food lovers and discerning travelers, we offer custom designed culinary travel itineraries which offer the best of culinary activities as well as many other interesting activities for the authentic India experience.#foodtour #foodwalk #indianfood #foodwalks #foodtours #travel #tours #culinary #culinarytravel #culinarytours #loveoffood Happy Independence Day#freedom #India #independenceday #Bharat
Traveling makes everybody a better person. We end our adventure happier than we started off. Travel makes one a better individual as well as a more interesting one as well. This makes one type of a person people float towards and want to associate with them. Following are some approaches to become a better person while having enjoyable travel experiences : 1. Happier Travels Travel tells you the best way to be cheery. You’ll end up being free, progressively sure and believe them to be an increasingly impressive spot. Being neighbourly, entertaining, social, cheery, certain are generally attributes that make people progressively productive in a standard day by day presence. Travel improves people. When you get acquainted with the world , push your cutoff points and try new things become an undeniably open, cheerful, and incredible person. 2. Say no to materialism All over the place, you adjust precisely how little stuff you truly need. You’ll comprehend that the stuff they sell at the mall is totally useless in life. Returning home, you’ll get yourself a moderate just in light of the fact that you comprehend what you need to live and what you don’t. 3. Easy going attitude Simply take the path of least resistance. Continuously be loose and accommodating while at the same time voyaging. Travel might most likely show new something new when you are calm and willing to realize what ‘s out there .4. Become sharp and smarter While voyaging you’ll get some answers concerning people, history and culture and arcane convictions about spots a couple of individuals could simply dream about. To put it doubtlessly, you’ll have a predominant understanding about how it capacities and how people continue. That is something that can’t be picked up from books; you can simply lift it up without and about experience. 5. Adapt to the Environment Various places have various foods and encompassing. Regular voyages make you increasingly versatile to new places like attempting fiery nourishment, encountering an entirely different world. Venture out of your customary range of familiarity to encounter. 6. Be confident while travelling In the wake of voyaging so much and achieving so much, you’re going to feel significantly increasingly positive about your capacity to accomplish anything you set your focus on. In this way, as you banter with an ever increasing number of outsiders your confidence normally develops. 7. Be good at ConversationsTravel does not simply fulfill you with chatting with outcasts, it improves you at it also. Unavoidably, you couldn’t think less about where people are from, where they are going, to what degree they’ve been voyaging. 8. Be more social You ought to be progressively open to individuals. You figure out how to make new companions and get progressively agreeable to outsiders. Make sense of how to make new buddies and get continuously content with bantering with new people.
When it comes to food, Maharashtra will never disappoint you. From the world famous pav bhaji to the delicious bhelpuri, Maharashtra has a lot to offer to food lovers. It is food heaven for both vegetarians and non vegetarians alike. Basundi is a sweet dish made in Maharashtra. It is condensed by boiling the sweetened milk on low heat which gives it a nice flavour. Sugar, cardamom or saffron is added to augment the flavour and texture. Different types of basundi are custard apple basundi and angoor basundi. Bhelpuri is a savoury snack common in Maharashtra.It is a mixture of puffed rice, chopped onions,chopped tomatoes,tamarind chutney. Bhelpuri can be served in a lot of ways, but usually it is served on a paper which is folded in the form of a cone and is consumed using a paper spoon. Misal pav has a spicy and tangy lentil curry which is made with moth beans and is served with Pav bread. At times, it is eaten with yoghurt to lessen the spice.It is decorated with a slice of Lemon and Onion Coriander sprinkled on it. This street food is readily available at any street food joint and served hot. Modak is extensively eaten during the Ganesh Chaturthi Festival all around the state. The sweet filling is made up of fresh-grated coconut and jaggery, while the soft shell is made from rice flour, or wheat flour mixed with maida flour. The dumpling can be fried or steamed. Pav Bhaji is one of the spiciest, vegetarian dish. It is a mixture of boiled vegetables along with a lot of Spices and Onion Coriander mixture for garnish.Fresh and thick slices of bread, smothered in butter served with a delicious mix of moderately spiced vegetables. Vada Pav is the most favorite snack in Maharashtra.It is Potato Bhaji ball dipped in Besan Flour and fried in hot oil. It is stuffed in Pav with Garlic Chutney and fried Chilli. VadaPav is super delicious when served hot- hot spicy and slight crunchiness. It is also known as ‘INDIAN BURGER’.
This photo series highlights best of street food items from different regions in India. First is Jammu. 1.Kimb a citrus fruit is skinned, juice & seeds squeezed out and then mixed with spices, salt, bit of sugar etc. A sweet, sour and spicy snack commonly prepared in many homes, but rare to find it for sale. 2. Bhijja Kulcha with Rajma (kidney beans). World’s best Rajma are grown in Jammu and this is evident in the number of Rajma dishes available in region. Another popular dish is Raajma Chawal served with mango pickle, chutney and clarified butter on some food shops on NH1 near Banihal. 3.Pattode, made with Colocassia Leaves. These are made in many parts of northern India. But each region has it’s own flavours. 4.Chana Kulcha, a very popular snack food item sold by street food vendors outside schools. Now there are a few other versions of it, like one with soyabean. 5.Kaladi Kulcha . Kaladi is a dense, salted cheese very popular in most parts of Jammu. It may have a bit of fungus on it which gives it a unique flavour. Eaten by heating on a pan with little oil and addition of salt, sauce or spices. It can be eaten with or without the bun. 6.Kachalu chaat. Another very popular street food snack for school children. Made of Taro rootstock and mixed with a wide variety of spices like tamarind, chilli, rock salt, pepper and more. Different places have different flavours. 7. Bhalla. Though this dish is quite common in most of northern India. But residents of Jammu just love these bhallas sold by small vendors in a few bus stands in southern border of Jammu. Served with spicey chutney and radish. Source: Pictures from various sources on net. Please contact for credits.
Haryana is one of the wealthiest states in India with kindhearted people. The occupation of the majority of the people is agriculture and dairy. Predominantly, Haryanvi diet is a vegetarian one and they consume a lot of milk and ghee. Haryana is also referred to as ‘The Land of Rotis”. Alsi ki Pinni is prepared with alsi (flaxseed), whole wheat flour, sugar, ghee, nuts and cardamom powder. This sweet is not only delicious but also very healthy. Alsi is high in fiber, omega 3, iron and potassium among others. Bajra Aloo Roti is prepared with a mix of bajra flour, mashed potatoes, ginger garlic paste, coriander leaves, garam masala. It is served hot with white butter with raita as accompaniments. It tastes heavenly and just melts in the mouth. Hara Dhania Cholia is a mix of green chickpeas and variety of vegetables. It is prepared with onion, tomato, red chili powder, cumin seeds, coriander leaves and turmeric amongst others. It is a rare and unique combination that is popular in Haryana and is eaten with chapatis or paranthas. Meethe Chawal or sweet rice are prepared using basmati rice, ghee, and sugar along with some cardamom and saffron. Basmati rice grown in Haryana is the best. The dish is very famous and is served during Basant Panchami festival.Every individual must try it at least once.
Indian food is known to be one of the most rich and delicious cuisines in the whole world. When you are traveling, you are bound to encounter some Indian food at the restaurants. Most people do not know how to make Indian food and therefore do not know much about it. Health benefits: Indian food is one of the healthiest in the world. It is made with very little oil and never animal fat. This means that it is not likely to result in high cholesterol blood content. This means that it is quite excellent for people who want to stay healthy and not experience cardiac diseases. This food is also made using a lot of spices and herbs. Most of these are known to have not only excellent taste, but they also have medicinal benefits. Some of the spices, such as turmeric, help in boosting the immune system. This means that by eating Indian food regularly, you are able to keep diseases at bay and live a healthy life. Main courses: Unlike other international cuisines which involve a lot of courses, Indian cuisine centers around one main course. This is either rice or bread. The variations in the dishes are brought about by the side servings which are numerous. Indian rice is made through different recipes so you do not feel like you are eating the same main dish every day. For example, you can have pulao rice, masala rice or turmeric rice. There are also a variety of Indian breads such as roti, naan or chapatti. These breads are sometimes made from whole grains and without any adding any fat making them healthy but still tasty. Meats: Indian food includes a wide range of meats apart from beef. However, most of the dishes are vegetarian with protein being obtained from other sources. Some of the popular protein sources for Indian foods include lentils, dried beans, chickpeas and black-eyed peas. This is one of the reasons why Indian food is considered to be quite healthy due to the extensive variety of vegetarian dishes. Spices: Indian foods are made using a lot of spices. Indian curries are quite hot and you may not be able to eat them if you are not used to having pepper in your food. Never the less, you can always make a special request to the chef to make your food without the pepper. This will take away a bit of the hotness but the other spices used will still maintain the flavor. Therefore, it is always advisable that you enquire from the server how spicy a dish is before ordering for it. Variety in recipes: Indian food is never prepared in the same way. Due to the wide variety of spices, you will find that each hotel and chef have their own secret recipes. Therefore, the same dish will taste quite different from one restaurant to another. This is one of the most intriguing things about Indian food and continues to make it a favorite. Next time you are going through ESTA ensure that you include Indian restaurants in your itinerary. Guest post by: Annie Bonneville
Arunachal Pradesh street food differs from tribe to tribe. As one move toward the eastern side of Arunachal people are dependent on bamboo and other leafy vegetables which are strictly boiled. Fried food is not as popular as people like to eat either boiled or smoked food. Apong is a type of rice beer, which is traditionally prepared by tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.India. Apong is prepared by fermenting rice. The two types are Nogi Apong and Poro Apong.The two apongs differ in their taste and colour. Chura Sabji is a kind of curry made of fermented cheese made by either yak milk or cow’s milk and not to forget the most important the flakes and a few pieces of the King chilly which makes it spicy but delicious. Lukhter is another delicacy of the Arunachal Pradesh.Lukter is a combination of cooked dry meat and chilli flakes from the King chilly or Bhut Jolokia. Like the norm goes with Aunachal, this is a side dish meant to be eaten with rice. Pehak is made by use of fermented Soybean and King chilly. In this dish, the king chilli is used as the main ingredient. It is also used as a side dish with rice. The pickle is hot and very spicy that gives the rice a very unique hot flavor. Pehak is very popular among Arunachalis. Pictures sourced from various sources on internet. Please contact for credits.
