Domestic and Foreign tourists - differential costing
It is not unknown for differential pricing to be used as a means of ensuring that resident Citizens are not charged for subsidised benefits used by Foreigners. A huge example is public transport, which globally is subsidised for Citizens as a larger social benefit, but in India especially in context with road transport is often used as a revenue generator.
To start with, I simply do not understand why Foreigners pay the same train fare as Indians, in India, on Indian Railways, and why they should not be charged double, or even more -- as is often the case in many parts of Europe when you look at train fares online. Most certainly the British, at the very least, should be made to pay a huge surcharge if they use our train, for all the money they took out of India. Especially if they continue to go on yapping about the misbegotten "glories" of the Raj.
We were their slaves, as the movie RRR has shown so well, and it is now time for them to start paying back. All 47 trillion dollars or pound sterling of it, plus interest.
Next, whilst charging foreigners more for visiting monuments and tourist spots is perfectly in keeping with similar methods used in many other countries, what is needed even more is a system where domestic tourists get preferential treatment when the number of entries is restricted. At the very least a 1 foreign tourist for every 5 domestic tourists kind of preference for Indian tourists in India.
This will certainly help India and Indians in many ways. Shall write about this part soon.
There is also this business of outbound visa fees which have, of late, gone through the roof for some countries. Along with the huge number of documents demanded, including bank statements that carry the personal and private details of Indians seeking visas even for teeny-weeny countries that depend on tourists from India, which India should demand so that only foreign tourists who are over a particular expenditure threshold are allowed into India.
With the forthcoming cold winter in Europe, India should levy a 100% surcharge on European visitors to India specifically, as oil surcharge.
There are many reasons for making sure that foreign tourists pay more in India. For everything. Time to start is now!
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