Pricey Taj Mahal tickets turning off foreign
tourists, hurting local business
An unusually few number of tourists are seen visiting
India's normally popular Taj Mahal monument in Agra. The
Indian tourism industry has all but collapsed due to fear
of air travel in the aftermath of the attacks in the United
States. The Indian hotel industry has reported over a 30
percent cancellation rate.
AGRA, India -- Most tourists
come to India determined to see the Taj Mahal, the majestic marble
mausoleum that is one of man's great monuments to love.
But nowadays they're likely to encounter tears,
shouting matches and sit-ins outside the gates of the white marble
memorial.
Many foreigners are shocked to discover that
for them, the price of admission is $20 -- 48 times more than
Indians pay, and double what it was last year.
Proceeds are split evenly between the Archaeological
Survey of India, a national agency that oversees India's 3,606
monuments, and the Agra Development Authority, which says it needs
the money to improve the city.
Any visitor can see
that Agra needs more than just sprucing up. Pigs root around in huge
piles of garbage and open sewage drains. Potholes abound and the air
is filthy, due to emissions from iron foundries and oil refineries
and engine exhaust from trucks and cars.
The Taj Mahal
was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his favorite wife,
Mumtaz Mahal, after she died giving birth to their 14th child.
Elephants hauled in tons of Jodhpur marble and an army
of 20,000 stonemasons, gem cutters, marble fitters and laborers
toiled for 22 years to complete the tomb in 1648.
It
is one of the world's great tourist destinations, for foreigners and
Indians alike. But for many, the price of admission puts it out of
reach.
On a recent day outside the Taj Mahal,
Prisanthu Sirohi got into a heated argument with the guards.
The 26-year-old film student and his family are
Indians who emigrated to Canada. He had bought a cheap ticket for
himself, but guards suspicious about his Western accent and
Caucasian girlfriend demanded to see his passport. He explained that
he was born in India and that his father was in the Indian air force
for 10 years.
Sorry, the guards told him. He would
have to buy a $20 ticket as his girlfriend had.
Sirohi
said that as students they couldn't afford another $20, so they
stayed out. Sirohi's two Indian cousins refused to go in without
him.
Merchants and tour guides say the price dispute
is affecting their income.
"This is the country of
Gandhi, who taught us never to discriminate on the basis of caste,
color or religion," said Abhinav Jain, owner of the Agra Marble
Shoppe by the Taj Mahal gates.
He said his sales of
inlaid marble handicrafts are off at least 30 percent.
"Even the rich, five-star tourists are very direct
about it," Jain said. "They feel discriminated against. Ethically,
it's just wrong and it gives such a bad impression of India."
Venkatraman Girish, a personnel manager in New Delhi
who was visiting Agra for the first time in a decade, said he saw
improvements to the Taj Mahal grounds and believed the prices were
justified.
"If you went to Disneyland, you'd pay what,
$50? So I think it's worthwhile in the scheme of things," he said.
At Disneyland, however, foreigners are not charged
more than Americans. The entry fee at the Eiffel Tower in Paris is
$9 for all nationalities. In Athens, the Acropolis is $5.50 for
Greeks and foreigners alike.
However, it's not
uncommon to charge foreigners more in Third World countries, on the
grounds that upkeep of tourist sites is expensive, and local people
on meager wages can't be expected to pay high ticket prices.
In India, foreign visitors are charged higher prices
for airline and railroad tickets, hotels and museums.
"I don't see any discrimination there," Komal Anand,
director-general of the Archaeological Survey of India, said of the
Taj Mahal entry costs. "And the status of Indians is such that we
can't charge them these kinds of prices."
An unusually few number of tourists are seen visiting
India's normally popular Taj Mahal monument in Agra. The
Indian tourism industry has all but collapsed due to fear
of air travel in the aftermath of the attacks in the United
States. The Indian hotel industry has reported over a 30
percent cancellation rate.