Diplomacy Journal David Kendall 기자 | The Embassy of India in Seoul hosted an "Incredible India Tourism Roadshow" from 3:30 pm to 6 pm on Monday, March 16. Presenter Abhishek Gupta — the broadcaster better known as "Lucky" in Korea — confided that the afternoon time slot was chosen to thwart late arrivals caused by traffic congestion. In actuality, it was likely to have presentations end and dinner begin precisely as the sun was setting.

The event was held on one of the Sevit floating islands on the Hangang. The importance of the Han to Korea and the Ganges River to India was a recurring theme, as were the Sanskrit proverb Atithidevo Bhava (a guest is God) and "the first Indian tourist to Korea," a princess believed to have sailed to the Peninsula 2,000 years ago to marry a ruler from the ancient Gaya Kingdom.

But the most commonly used phrase was "luxury tourism," delivered in abundance by an Indian tourism promoter who spoke of the 17th-to-19th century marble palaces like Taj Falaknuma, the yachts, the mountain resorts and the gilded train travel aboard the Maharajas' Express that India has to offer — at a hefty price.

Luxury tourism is not a strictly inbound phenomenon for Indian tourism. One Seoul-based tour coordinator attending the event said his business has seen a noticeable shift away from American tourists to wealthy Indians who want to enjoy genuine Gangnam Style and high-end travel throughout Korea.

In his welcoming remarks, Indian Ambassador to Korea Gourangalal Das said, "A journey to India is like a passage through many countries on a single visa." While referencing the snowy peaks of the Himalayas, the tranquil backwaters of Kerala and the many spiritual sites that have been a fount of world civilization for millennia, the Ambassador stressed that India is much more than its mystic past.

Though India's past is still a vital part of its present-day tourism industry: Several speakers spoke of the high volume of Buddhist monks and faithful who make pilgrimages to spiritual sites. Improved infrastructure is making their journeys all the more serene. Two popular destinations within India's Sacred Buddhist Circuit that sit 250 km apart once took a 15-hour bus ride to reach but are now within a five-hour drive "and that's during periods of heavy traffic," one presenter assured the assembled promoters.

Indeed, massive investments in infrastructure have brought modern expressways, high-speed rail and "nearly 90 new airports in the last

two decades," Ambassador Das boasted. "It's not just a destination; it's an experience," he said of India, and the multiple videos displaying tremendous cultural and geographic diversity made that abundantly clear.

Flying to India from Korea has been made easier as well. The head of Air India's Korea branch declared that as of March 2026, flights to Delhi from Incheon International were now "daily except for Monday," adding that he anticipates genuine daily service in the near future.

Neeraj Kumar, Country Manager for DU Global in Korea, spoke of "seamless e-visas" and visas upon arrival, an option that India grants to the citizens of only three countries: Korea, Japan and the UAE.

Having already surpassed China in population, the government of India is thinking big. A Korean trade representative speaking virtually from the subcontinent said that with its Vision 2047 initiative, the government of India plans to surpass the USD 30 trillion GDP mark and the size of the U.S. economy by the middle of this century. Consequently, the tourism roadshow included mention of massive convention center projects already completed or underway.

But India still values its pockets of serenity, nature and wildlife. Presenters pitched all three of those experiences. Not only was there a lot of talk of yoga and wellness tours, there was a chair yoga session in the middle of the roadshow with an instructor carefully guiding the attendees through therapeutic stretches, breathing and meditation.

Luxury-wellness tourism was also on display, as were luxury wildlife safaris, but tourists just wanting to get away from it all have a multitude of options as well. The last presenter spoke of — and showed — breathtaking getaways where one can enjoy hiking, biking, rafting and kayaking in pristine wilderness.