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Friday, April 29, 2005
Making the firangs pay
Karthik sends an email in response to my post on tourism in India, in which he writes:
Good observation. But things are not all bad. Karthik does admit that "[t]hroughout our trip, all the taxi drivers smelt just fine".
Update (April 30): Ashish Hanwadikar, in an email, writes:
Last year, when my wife and I visited India, a couple of our friends from the US joined us. They traveled around the country, trying to cover as many places as they could - from Agra to Ooty.
Everywhere we went, we were surprised (and outraged) to see that exploitation of tourists was official policy. The entry fees to most places were different for Indians and foreigners. Indians pay Rs 20 to enter the Taj, while foreigners (defined as people that are not brown) pay $20. Not just the Taj though: Mudumalai (a remote wildlife sanctuary near Ooty), Mahabalipuram, Nagerhole (near Mysore) - all of these places charge higher fees if you are foreign looking. At every place, we felt extremely embarrassed - often we'd just buy tickets without letting them know. After we returned to the US, they told us that having to pay more for the same service just because they were not locals was the thing they hated the most about the trip.
When taxi drivers and tour guides take visitors for a ride, you can tell the tourists that these are a few isolated criminals out to make money, and they'll probably understand. But what happens if the Government systematically exploits visitors? It makes them feel like they are unwelcome, is what happens. I've heard lame excuses along the lines of "They spend so much to come here, why not pay a few dollars more?" but that's totally missing the point.
Good observation. But things are not all bad. Karthik does admit that "[t]hroughout our trip, all the taxi drivers smelt just fine".
Update (April 30): Ashish Hanwadikar, in an email, writes:
The solution to the problem is simple. Whatever money GOI [the government of India] wants to extract from the tourists they should do through increased visa fees. Then the firangs will not feel cheated and GOI will get the money it wants. [In the same] kind of way that the H1-B applicants are asked to pay extra fees to cover training for workers they might displace.
