Tour operators demand discounts on Taj Mahal fares

While the Taj remains popular amongst celebrity guests, many ordinary foreign visitors are skipping it

The Taj Mahal, the eternal monument of love, remains a must visit attraction for celebrity guests to India, the latest high-profile visitors being the British royal couple, William and Kate.

Over the last couple of months, however, ordinary foreign tourists have been giving Agra a miss. To arrest the decline in foreigners visiting  the monument, tour operators are demanding an off-season discount on entry fee, more flights to Agra and better infrastructure in the city.

Earlier this month, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) wrote to the government recommending, among other things, a 50 per cent reduction in entry fees at Archeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments for the period April 1-September 30. This is a low season for foreign tourist arrivals and such a move will encourage “great movement into the off-season period”.

While the IATO letter was not specific to issues concerning  Taj Mahal, an IATO member said declining number of foreign tourists at Taj Mahal is an indicator of the state of inbound tourism in India.

The entrance fee at Taj Mahal for a foreign tourist was hiked to Rs 1000 from Rs 750 starting April 1. The fee is levied by two agencies - ASI and Agra Development Authority.

A further hike in the entrance fee has been proposed. In his written reply to Rajya Sabha in March, minister of state for culture and tourism Mahesh Sharma acknowledged that number of foreign visitors to Taj Mahal declined to 0.64 million in 2014 from 0.69 million in 2013 and 0.74 million in 2012.

The minister said no market study has been done to pinpoint the reasons for fall in footfalls of foreign tourists. However, some of the factors determining international tourist arrivals in any tourist destination including the Taj Mahal are “prevailing travel trends, economies of tourism source markets, connectivity, availability of reasonably priced accommodation, good tourism infrastructure et cetera.”

Some operators believe that reducing entrance fees at monuments alone will not suffice, and will not be a big incentive for foreign tourists to come to India. Entrance fees are a very small component of the total tour cost, they pointed out.

“We have been writing to the government to improve infrastructure and provide better air connectivity to Agra. Earlier, foreign tourists used to stay overnight in Agra but now most only come for a few hours. We find some foreign tourists visiting only the Taj Mahal and, skipping Fatehpur Sikri and Agra fort because of high entrance fees,” said Sunil Gupta, former president of the Tourism Guild of Agra.

Photograph: Reuters