Wall Street Journal Coverage on Travel in India
February 17th, 2008
For those of you staying in India to travel when the course ends, click HERE to read the nice coverage the WSJ had this weekend on travel in northeast India. A good mix of tourism, travel, business, marketing, etc. Get your checkbook out. The rich in India are generally richer than the rich in China, and the poor in India are generally poorer than the poor in China. The shadows of this article touches on this difference.
I am also half-way through the book that just came out which I recommended several weeks ago … Billions of Entrepreneurs — How China and India Are Changing Their Futures, and Yours. It is really an outstanding book. By the juxtaposition between India and China this Harvard Biz School profs presents, you will move to a deeper level of knowledge and understanding about these two countries and their economies. This is an even better book, in my view, than the Elephant and the Dragon book I list in your syllabus. It is not an easy book to read — you really have to concentrate and read it carefully — but the quality of information presented makes it well worth the slog. Your spring quarter book review?
Entry Filed under: Beijing, China, India, New Delhi, Pre-Departure
5 Comments Add your own
1. Robyn Bowie | February 18th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
What an interesting article about the new trend of making historic forts and castles into hotels. It is an interesting idea and certainly something that has a lot of potential for these formerly royal families, who are now facing financial issues. I would love to stay in a former fort that once housed hundreds of soldiers, and the fort pictured in the article looks absolutely amazing. I think it is a really great thing for these families because it is obviously important to them to hold on to these family treasures and being able to make money off of those treasures is a great way to make sure they stay in the family. I am definitely traveling around India some more after our main trip and am really looking forward to it. Jaipur is one of the cities I plan on visiting and the article mentioned there was a similar “hotel” nearby. I will have the be on the lookout for them. Although, unfortunately it sounds like the price tag may be a bit too hefty for me. Thanks for this article Dr. Carr!
2. Pierre Michael | February 18th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
That was an interesting article. I am surprised some of these forts get any business at all with a $365/night price tag and a 12 hour out of the way train trip through narrow village lanes. Some people must make these historic buildings not just their hotel but ultimately their tourist destination. The hotel even offers all you can eat royal cuisine, but as I usually am, I’m skeptical. Apparently this is a meal that Mr. Singh and his wife make together. Don’t you need a staff of 20 or something to prepare a royal meal? Anyways, the Singh brothers are struggling through some valiant efforts to make their hotel and their town well known enough to be put on the proverbial map. Can you sleep somewhere in the great wall of China? What about other Chinese castles or forts?
3. Pierre Michael | February 18th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
I wonder if you could pay to sleep in the dormitory of a Chinese factory. You could get really close to factory workers and their experience. Ok nevermind, not the best idea.
4. Shasta Palmer | February 20th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Reading this article makes it sounds like tourism in India is increasing, and more people are willing to take more time to see out of the way places and pay higher prices. However, in the United States tourism to small out of the way towns seems to be decreasing. From what hear, and see, the high prices of gas are making it where people don’t travel as much to the small towns, and quite a few are having to shut places down. This makes me wonder why the sudden increase in tourism is occurring in India. Is it local tourism, or is it out-of-country tourism?
5. Matt Fencl | February 25th, 2008 at 10:01 am
I think it’s great that these historical landmarks are being restored and converted into tourist hotels. This is a great example of preserving the historical India while also creating jobs in the emerging economy. I wish more countries took this approach and didn’t focus on the short term which leads to things like destroying old castles and using their stones for new buildings.
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