Backgrounder
The Department
of Tourism has got a survey done on expenditure on ‘handicrafts’
of foreign tourists visiting India. The fieldwork of the survey
was carried out by the National productivity Council (NPC) during
September-October 2002 in six major cities of the country, i.e.
New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkatta, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
Tourists from
about 100 foreign countries were interviewed during the survey
period. The majority of the tourists interviewed came from USA
(11%), UK (10%), France (7%), Germany (6%) and Australia (5%).
58% of the tourists interviewed were males and 42% were females.
The survey
reveals that Silk products are among the handicrafts the most
bought item. These items constituted about 23% of the total
expenditure on all types of handicrafts. Other handicraft items
of high value bought by the tourists include metal and Jewellery
(20%), Cotton Textile (16%), Wool Textile (6%) and leather products
(6%). The foreign tourists spend small amount on items like
natural fibre, glass products and bamboo products.
A foreign
tourist on an average spends about Rs. 12,187 on handicraft
items during his/her visit to India. The survey also indicates
that female tourists spend more than their male counterparts.
Professionwise, the business tourists spend more on handicrafts
than other types of tourists.
Among the various
nationals, the expenditure of the Americans constitute about
18% of the total handicrafts bought from India followed by UK
(12%), France (8%), Australia (8%), Germany (5%) and Canada
(4%). In terms of per-capita expenditure on handicrafts,
the tourists from UAE topped the list with Rs. 28, 376 followed
by the tourists from Soudi Arabia (Rs. 26, 955), Nigeria (Rs.
25073) and Ireland (Rs. 24, 687). The per tourist per day expenditure
on handicrafts is found to be Rs. 609 (about US$ 13).
The total expenditure
on handicrafts by all foreign tourists visiting India during
2001 is estimated to be Rs. 29, 852 million and Rs. 28,781 million
in 2002. The foreign tourists’ expenditure in handicrafts in
2001 constituted about 18% of the total value of production
of handicrafts in the country during 2001-2002 and 44% of the
total handicrafts exports.
