Airports being a weak links in Indian tourism, tourists are forced to use roads. More than 80% of the tourists have to use road network but the deplorable road conditions in India do not make the travelling easier. The major factor that hampers the development of road sector is the government control over all the road properties. Internationally, all the major cities within the country are connected with six lane highways. But in India, even the four metros are not well connected. Thus, the basic infrastructure to support the tourism industry is missing.
S.W.O.T ANALYSIS OF ROAD NETWORK
Strengths
- India has one of the largest road networks in the world. Country’s total road length was 30, 15,299 km. More roads are being added.
- Trains like Palace on Wheels provide a feel of Indian majesty of the days gone by.
- Deccan odyssey, Heritage on wheel, Taj trains offer unique Rail experience.
Weaknesses
- The road condition in India is very bad. The roller coaster ride is not what is expected while travelling by the tourists.
- Heavy road taxes.
Opportunities
- As the tourism industry expands the airline industry is also in for a boom.
- The smaller places that cannot be accessed by the air, road, railways are the next best options.
Threats
- There are no major threats to this industry as there is no substitute at present. Airlines are the only threat, which will take time to develop to come up to have such extensive distribution as rail or roadways.
