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Tourism firms in Europe decry hike in Taj Mahal entry fee

Ranvir Nayar in Paris

Tour operators in France are up in arms against the decision of the Uttar Pradesh government to hike the entry fee to the Taj Mahal and the Red Fort (aka the Agra Fort) in Agra.

Several leading tour operators have already dashed off strong letters to Ashok Pradhan, director-general of the department of tourism, government of India, in protest against this ``arbitrary and sudden decision''.

The UP government has decided to increase the entry fee to the Taj Mahal from Rs 100 rupees to Rs 500 and to the Red Fort in Agra from Rs 15 to Rs 300.

The increase will come into effect from January 1, 2000. Most tour operators say that while they cannot question the issue of increase in entry fee, they are troubled most by the manner in which the whole issue has been tackled by the government.

``No one is denying that the government should not charge a reasonable rate for these world heritage monuments so that they can be maintained properly. That is a fair thing. But what we protest is that these decisions are taken arbitrarily and suddenly, without taking into account the ground realities of the tourism sector,'' says Kiran Joti, manager of SITA World Travel (India) Limited, one of the leading ground handling agents for India in the French market.

In a letter to the tourism department, Loic Merian, production manager, Clio Voyages, a French tour operator, says he is surprised that the price hike has been announced without giving the tour operators adequate time to include the new prices in their brochures. ``Our brochures for the next season have already gone into print and it is against the French law to charge more than what is printed in the brochures,'' he says in the letter.

Joti adds that if the government had to increase the prices they could have at least delayed it till next summer, which gives the tour operators enough flexibility absorb this increase.

However, Manmohan Sadana, director of the Paris office of the Tourism Promotion Board, feels that the fears of the French operators are unjustified. ``A 15-rupee entrance fee is less than 30 US cents. It was a ridiculous fee to charge the foreigners who pay anywhere upto $ 10 for each of their own sites, which are not even one among the seven wonders of the world, like the Taj is. So this sort of rationalisation of the entry fee was absolutely necessary,'' Sadana told Rediff On The NeT.

Sadana also said that the impact of the hike would be marginal, if at all, on tourist arrivals. He pointed out that an average India package tour began only at 11,000 French francs and a fee hike of 65 francs is only half a per cent of the entire cost, something that can easily be absorbed either by the tour operators or the clients.

He said that almost all hotels have been raising the costs by nearly 15-20 per cent each year and that does not deter the tourists, whose number from France is the fastest growing in the entire European market.

Last year, nearly 98,000 tourists travelled from France to India, the highest number for Europe minus the United Kingdom. The French tourist arrivals grew at seven per cent and Sadana says the figure should easily cross the 100,000 mark this year. ``And unlike the British tourists, these are not charter tourists who travel due to the cheap rates, but these are high value customers for whom the small fee hike should not matter at all,'' he points out.

But Joti of SITA Travels says that the quantum of the increase, which is 500 per cent for Taj and 2000 per cent for the Agra Fort is mind-boggling. ``Our government moves in totally arbitrary methods. They could have announced a steadier increase over a number of seasons. This will give them the additional revenue and also prepare us for a steady increase,'' she says.

Joti says the French market has become so competitive that such radical price changes will only hurt the efforts to promote tourism to India. ``People here will switch destinations for 50 Francs. So such a big hike, which comes close to 140 francs for both the sites together, could have some impact. It could have a more serious impact in the sense that many individual tour operators anyway think that India is a very problematic destination due to the unpredictability and the lack of a professional approach towards this crucial service industry. Such jolts are only likely to turn them away even more and deter them from promoting India among the travellers.''

However, Sadana says that the government will woo the tourists through a string of promotions this year, the Visit India Year. Recently, Ritu Beri hosted her fashion show in Paris as part of the promotional effort.

In addition, the Indian government will also participate in other promotions aimed at mass public also.

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