We bet 99% of Indians have no clue where or what Croatia is.

No big deal.

For the uninformed, Croatia is a small Southern European country on the Adriatic Sea. 

Part of Yugoslavia until 1991, Croatia has an area of just 56,542 sq km and a population of a mere 4.55 million.

Yet, as a story in today’s New York Times notes, Croatia expects 10 million tourists this year.

What was seen for much of 1990s as a war-torn nation is now widely perceived as a prime tourist destination, with 10 million tourists a year and visitors flocking to its Adriatic coast.

In contrast, India - land of the Taj Mahal, Qutub Minar, Ajanta, Ellora, Tanjore temples, Goa and countless other fabulous tourist spots - gets just about four million tourists.

According to the World Tourism Organization, Croatia got 8.47 million international tourists in 2005. In the same year, India got a piffling 3.91 million international tourists while its communist neighbor China got a whopping 46.81 million tourists. Go figure.

Surely something is very rotten when newly independent tiny countries like Croatia (126th largest country in the world) attract more tourists than India (seventh largest).

Nearly 60 years after India won independence, the country is still barely on the international tourist map.

Poor marketing, negligible investment in tourism and lack of Continue Reading…

Jet Airways got such effusive coverage of its plans to commence daily flights between Mumbai and Newark (in the New York area) effective August 5  in the New York Times’ travel section on Sunday that it must have made other airlines flying to India see red.

In a puff-piece headlined A Flying Apartment to India with an accompanying photo of a pretty woman lounging on a bed with a laptop, the NYT gave Jet Airways enviable coverage, particularly of the eight first-class suites with sliding doors.

Each 26-square-foot suite includes a seat that converts into a seven-foot bed (right), a 23-inch flat-screen monitor, LED lighting, a hanging wardrobe and a credenza for dining or working. Passengers can order Dom Pérignon and Krug.

Panasonic has developed the entertainment system for the 18-hour flight via Brussels.

According to the NYT story, Jet Airways plans to fly new Boeing 777s on the Mumbai-Brussels route.

Ticket prices will depend on when how far in advance you book. Round trip tickets start at $10,085 for first-class, $6,150 for the premiere and $850 for the lowly economy.

By the way, Jet Airways also took out a full-page color Ad in the main section of NYT on Sunday to promote its First Class private suite service.

Wonder what Jet Airways’ high-flying ambitions mean for our dowdy Air India. Stay tuned.