Category — Tourism & Hospitality

Changing mindsets and somewhat friendlier courts in New Delhi have created business possibilities for travel operators, who are now portraying India as an emerging gay-friendly destination. The Toronto Sun reports on a U.S. survey that ranked India as the second most desired cultural or adventure destination for gay couples, just behind Thailand.

When economist Qing Wu visited North India with his partner, he said he “never felt uncomfortable” as a couple. “In India, it is fairly common to see boys holding hands,” said Wu, who lives in San Francisco, via email. “I personally feel pretty safe.”

The special packages provided by LGBT tour companies in India also ensure clients can be completely uninhibited during their visit. The entire staff, if not gay, is gay-friendly. “It is my duty that no taxi driver or guide says anything offensive,” said Abhinav Goel, owner of Out Journeys in New Delhi.

What this means

Homosexuality is still illegal in India, despite what the newspaper article implies, and this law was first enacted by British rulers in 1861. In 2009, a court in Delhi decriminalized homosexual acts but the ruling applies only in the national capital territory and not in the rest of India. Homophobia continues to be practiced widely, such as when India’s current health minister blamed AIDS on aberrant lifestyles.

If you are GLBT person planning a business or recreational trip to India, I encourage you to go. Holding hands with a person of the same gender won’t attract unwanted attention in India but that’s because this practice is accepted among heterosexuals. But don’t flaunt other physical behavior and think before making public statements of your sexual orientation.

I’ve flown over a dozen airlines to and from India in just the last five years ranging from Singapore Air, Eva Air, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Lufthansa, British Air, Korean Airlines , Malaysian Airways,  KLM, United, and American Air. Since I live in California,  I have not had the chance to fly on Continental from Newark or Delta from JFK. The attraction of flying on a US carrier and consolidating frequent flyer miles is high.  I took the American Airlines non stop flight between Chicago and New Delhi a number of times. Sadly AA never put its best planes or friendliest crews on this segment. Even in Business Class, I received frowns upon asking for water, the seats would not flat and they tried to sell me an $80 device just so I could charge my laptop. (Singapore offers electrical outlets in economy plus!).

My seat neighbor on one incident was  a Dallas exective who was required to fly AA by his company and he said he made the trip 6-8 times a year. And hated it.  Today AA announced that they would stop flying the ORD-DEL segment. Frequent travelers to India won’t miss them, sadly. I sure hope that Delta/United pick up the gates from AA. And here is my vote from Delta non-stops from LAX to DEL.

In 2007, my home town paper, The Los Angeles Times and its parent were purchased by Chicago billionaire Samuel Zell. This year Zell has announced his entry into India. In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Zell spoke of his foreign expansion into Colombia, Brazil and the subcontinent.

“In India, we’re doing a hotel/motel program like Residence Inn at Marriott and we hope to build a chain across the country,” he said. Zell, through Equity International, which he co-founded with Gary Garrabrant in 1999, has invested in real estate- related companies around the world, including in Brazil, China and Mexico.

Google has let loose an unspecified number of cars and tricycles to photograph  streets in Bangalore, one of India’s largest cities, according to a report in the Deccan Herald newspaper

They expect the project to face several India-specific challenges: narrow, chaotic roads, traffic, weather, network problems. Bangalore offers a good sample of all of these challenges.  If ‘Street View’ cars can pass the Bangalore test, they will be able to drive elsewhere with ease.  Mumbai and Delhi, which appear to be next on the rollout list, which are the two largest cities in India Vinay Goel, product head of Google India, declined to disclose how many Google cars are driving around in Bangalore.

Street View car and tricycle at Google Bangalore

What this means:

While GPS and accurate maps are becoming more common in India, getting to your destination often involves “asking someone” on the street as you navigate. Street View will obviate the need for such interactions, at least a little.

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has partnered with India’s  3C Company to open a $400 million property in the Delhi One project by 2014. Four Seasons Delhi will feature 250 guest  rooms plus  180 furnished serviced private condominium homes and will be located in Noida’s Sector 16B across the Yamuna river from the capital city. The company, according to Senior Vice President Christopher Wong, is now looking at Rajasthan, Kerala and Goa for  resort projects. He describes Gurgaon in the Delhi NCR area as a potential future destination for Four Seasons properties.

The company itself does not develop or own hotel properties, rather manages, operates and lends its brand name to hotels owned by other developers. Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts currently operates 85 luxury hotels globally.

What this means: India’s pitifully low hotel room inventory is rapidly rising but there is a long way to go. The cities of Las Vegas and Orlando each have more rooms that the 100,000 guest rooms in all categories across the 28 states of India. We are now seeing development in all categories from foreign and domestic players and this can only be good for business and recreational travelers.