The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Travelling abroad has become affordable now

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 11, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Travelling abroad has become affordable now

Whether travelling abroad has widened the outlook of Indian tourists who should be using these opportunities to get a broader understanding of the world remains debatable...

Many packages

AIR TRAVEL within the country and overseas has become affordable with low-cost packages, discounted round trip fares and the "fly-now pay-later" offers. More people are going at least to other Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. Fares and tours to Europe and North America still remain expensive but may come down if there are more Indian tourists.

R. Krishnaswamy,

Basavanagudi

What about outlook?

TRAVEL HAS become more affordable but whether it has widened our outlook is a debatable question. Many of us have an inferiority complex and a defensive attitude when it comes to Western countries, their people and their ideals. With a more liberal economy and the cable TV beaming international content, we should stop being so insular. Our growing economy should give us the confidence to behave like any tourist while overseas.

Joshua S.,

Langford Road

Understanding cultures

MANY OF us still feel we are far behind the West and even the economic "tigers" of Asia when our economy is actually growing at a faster rate than in the West. The opportunities for overseas travel should be prudently used to understand other cultures and people and not just for a duty-free shopping spree.

Babita S.,

Indiranagar

Impression matters

THERE IS more to visiting London than shopping at Marks and Spencer and New York's only attractions are not strip joints that also serve tandoori chicken. Our first-time tourists overseas often misbehave and create a bad impression among local people. With cheaper overseas travel the situation may become worse unless we remember we are representing our culture while travelling in other countries.

Latha Venkatesh,

Jayanagar

Attitude

WHEN THOSE from the West used to visit India till very recently, they exhibited a condescending attitude. All they wanted were photographs of snake charmers, fakirs on nail beds and elephants and cows on the roads. Many of our tourists in the West are behaving no better by preferring night clubs to museums and art galleries and refusing to even sample food.

D.S. Manjunath,

R.T. Nagar

Personal hygiene

CHEAPER AIR tickets, liberal tourist visas and more than enough foreign exchange allowances may make the Indian tourist as common as those from Japan and China in the scenic spots of Europe and North America. Unfortunately, many of us carry with our disdain for personal hygiene and some bad habits such as spitting even while travelling and this lowers our dignity in the eyes of others.

Farha M.,

Fraser Town

Crash courses

PACKAGE TOURS and discounted airfares have resulted in Indian tourists who cannot use toilet paper using the bidet for unintended purposes and refusing to use litter boxes on roads. Travel agencies should give crash courses in "how to behave overseas" to those they book on package tours.

Jaya Sridhara,

J.P. Nagar

Competitive pricing

MANY YOUNG people from the information technology industry are already travelling abroad regularly, on projects or for training. The upper middleclass families can now afford a trip to other countries thanks to competitive pricing by tour operators. Travel serves a purpose only if it brings us closer to other cultures and helps us understand that the world is after all a small planet.

S. Mamta,

Malleswaram

Shrinking world

TRAVEL ABROAD is no longer for the rich; upwardly mobile urban Indians with fixed incomes are into package tours across Europe and the U.S. Just as some domestic airfares are close to first class train travel, packages for overseas tours may become even less expensive in the years to come. We should use these opportunities to get a broader understanding of the world we live in; a constantly shrinking world.

N.K. Raju,

Bannerghatta Road

NEXT WEEK: The long-awaited commuters' dream seems to be getting closer to a reality. Bangaloreans have their own expectations from the metro rail having depended on the bus system (now vastly improved) for as long as they can remember. Will the Metro be the answer to the city's traffic woes? Readers are invited to send their views to Point-Blank, The Hindu, 19 & 21, Bhagwan (Infantry Road) Mahaveer Road, Bangalore 560 001 or email them to bglreflections@thehindu.co.in.

Basavanagudi

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