‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ campaign proves ‘The Customer is King’

Atithi Devo Bhavah [Atithi devo bhavaḥ] (English: 'The guest is God' or 'Guest become God') is a Sanskrit verse, taken from an ancient Hindu scripture which became part of the "code of conduct" for Hindu society. Atithi Devo Bhavah regards a procedure of the Host-Guest relationship. Recently it has also become the tag line of India's Ministry of Tourism's campaign to improve the treatment of tourists in India; the Indian version of Peter Drucker's customer satisfaction slogan, 'The customer is king'.

Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign by Amir Khan

India attracts millions of tourists each year, 3.3 million in 2003, but lags far behind other destinations. To attempt to improve the number of tourists travelling to India, the Tourism Department of India started the Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign with the theme The Incredible India.

'Atithi Devo Bhavah' is a Social Awareness Campaign aimed at providing the inbound tourist a greater sense of being welcomed to the country. The campaign targets the general public, while focusing mainly on the stakeholders of the tourism industry. The campaign provides training and orientation to taxi drivers, guides, immigration officers, police and other personnel who interact directly with the tourist.

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan was roped in as the brand ambassador of the 'Atithi Devo Bhavah' campaign for the Ministry of Tourism.

As the old saying goes, “Treat others as you would like to be treated yourself.” That is the essence of Atithi Devo Bhavah. It’s all about developing a sense of responsibility towards tourists in India and preserving India’s rich culture and heritage.

And for that to happen, there was a need to change the attitude towards tourists. There were vivid instances where the touch of hospitality was seen lost. It was hospitality on which India was known for. - The campain - Atithi Devo Bhavah was aimed to bring that warmth back.

Atithi Devo Bhavah was a seven point program of hospitality and training. The insight of seven points are hereunder:

Samvedan Sheelta or Sensitisation: Educate various sections of the tourism industry on how each one of them contributes to the growth of the tourism industry.

Prashikshan or Training and Induction: Teach people how to approach and interact with a tourist, as this forms the ‘moment of truth’ in any service industry.

Prerna or Motivation: Motivate people to participate in this programme through various measures e.g. awards/recognition for the best worker in the segment.

Pramani Karan or Certification: Certification to ensure that standards shall be maintained at all times in the training programme.

Pratipushti or Feedback: Obtain feedback from the tourists about the service they have received and the experience they’ve had.

Samanya Bodh or General Awareness: The mass media communication campaign will be undertaken to create general awareness among the public about the necessity and the benefits of the Atithi Devo Bhavah programme.

Swamitwa or Ownership: Adopt the Atithi Devo Bhavah movement as your own, fellow Indians, for many livelihoods are dependent on tourism.

The social campaign by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, Atithi Devo Bhavah has done a miracle for the ministry. The impact of this specific campaign can be measured based on two parameters - Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India and Foreign Exchange Earnings.

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) during the Month of September, 2011 was 4.01 lakh as compared to FTAs of 3.69 lakh during the month of September, 2010 and 3.31 lakh in August, 2009. There has been a growth of 8.7 per cent in September, 2011 over September, 2010 as compared to a growth of 11.6  per cent registered in September 2010 over September, 2009. The growth of 8.7 per cent in September 2011 is higher than 5.3 per cent in August, 2011. FTAs during the period January-September, 2011 were 42.20 lakh with a growth of 10.0 per cent, as compared to the FTAs of 38.35 lakh with a growth of 8.0  per cent during January-September 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009.

Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) during the month of September 2011 were Rs. 5748 crore as compared to Rs. 4678 crore in September 2010 and Rs 3798 crore in September 2009. The growth rate in FEE in Rs terms in September 2011 was 22.9 per cent as compared to 23.2 per cent in September 2010 over September 2009. FEE from tourism in rupee terms during January-September 2011 were Rs. 53761 crore with a growth of 16.6 per cent, as compared to the FEE of Rs. 46115 crore with a growth of 22.7 per cent during January- September 2010 over the corresponding period of 2009.

FEE in US$ terms during the month of September 2011 were US$ 1208 million as compared to FEE of US$ 1015 million during the month of September, 2010 and US$ 785 million in September 2009. The growth rate in FEE in US$ terms in September 2011 over September 2010 was 19 per cent as compared to the growth of 29.3 per cent in September 2010 over September 2009. FEE from tourism in terms of US$ during January-September 2011 were US$ 11886 million with a growth of 18.7 per cent, as compared to US$ 10012 million with a growth of 30.5 per cent during January-August 2010 over the corresponding Period of 2009.

A proud to be Indian said, this is really a good initiative taken by the Government of India to improve India's image. We Indians have very good ethics and moral values, but somewhere there is some glitch caused due to increasing westernization and broadcast explicit media on television. All we need is a refurbishment and revival of our moral ethics and this is being done very well through the campaign - Atithi Devo Bhavah.

After many instances of foreign women being raped in India were observed, foreign visitors got discouraged. To repair India’s tarnished image, Atithi Devo Bhavah campaign with brand ambassador film actor Aamir Khan was initiated to increase people’s awareness which is now paying dividend.