This article analyzes the potential of the tourism industry in India and evaluates the importance of advertising as a strategic communication tool.

Till recently Indian tourism has remained a lackluster industry unable to attract proportionate government and private investments. The post liberalization era has opened up wide new vistas leading to a rapid expansion of travelers' base. It is important that the industry potential is tapped through suitable advertisements that inform the prospective tourists, attract and guide them.

The marketing task involves educating people about the vast potential of tourism in an appealing way to specific target segments and further facilitating the relevant information to the segments, ensuring excellent service at reasonable rates and elevating the country's tourist attractions as the best in the world. The advertisements emanating from the tourism industry should inform, educate and reinforce the merits of all the elements of marketing mix. However, in India, the tourism advertisements mainly focus on offering informational services.

A better understanding of the travelers' minds and their travel objectives may make advertisements more meaningful and more successful. The traveler will be satisfied if he gets the value for the money he has spent. Maximum satisfaction is derived when the value is the highest. All these aspects have to be taken into consideration while planning for advertisements.

The domestic segment is yet another less tapped segment. Tourism need not require a fat wallet of the traveler. Brief yet interesting tour packages could be designed to tap the so far untapped markets within India. Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA) Holidays of India, launched for exploring and rediscovering India by Indians within India, is a welcome step towards promoting domestic tourism.