Tourism is at the top of Indian current Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda: according to Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto, tourism can play a key role in India’s socio-economic progress. The country had last formulated a tourism policy in 2002, when the multimillion dollar nation branding campaign which received the name “Incredible India” was launched on an international level. The primary objective of this branding exercise was to create a distinctive identity for the country. Through the analysis of the campaign’s themes, the paper discusses its connection with orientalist imagery and colonial meanings as well as its effectiveness in promoting the Indian tourist industry. The article dwells on how the government’s campaign constructs the Indian difference for an imagined global audience. Questions of cultural othering, the role of colonialism, and contemporary neocolonial structures in relation to tourism promotion for India are discussed. In this paper it is argued that, if the government is serious about branding India with Narendra Modi’s much hyped 5 Ts, with tourism as a leading contributor, a new paradigm different from the “Incredible India” one may be necessary.

Aime, Marco. 2007. L’incontro mancato. Turisti, nativi, immagini. Torino: Bollati Boringhieri.

Aime, Marco, e Davide Papotti. 2012. L’altro e l’altrove. Antropologia, geografia e turismo. Torino: Einaudi.

Bandyopadhyay, Ranjan, and Duarte Morais. 2005. “Representative Dissonance: India’s Self and Western Image”. Annals of Tourism Research 32 (4): 1006-1021.

Barberani, Silvia. 2006. Antropologia e turismo. Scambi e complicità nell’area mediterranea. Milano: Guerini.

Butler, Richard W. 1990. “The Influence of the Media in Shaping International Tourist Patterns”. Tourism Recreation Research 15 (2): 46-53.

Chaney, David. 2002. “The Power of Metaphors in Tourism Theory”. In Tourism: Between Place and Performance, edited by Simon Coleman and Mike Crang, 193-206. New York: Berghahn Books.

Corvo, Paolo. 2003. I mondi nella valigia. Introduzione alla sociologia del turismo. Milano: Vita e Pensiero.

Dioguardi, Vanessa. 2009. L’immagine della destinazione turistica come costruzione sociale. Milano: FrancoAngeli.

Edensor, Tim. 1998. Tourists at the Taj. London: Routledge.

Gartner, William C. 1993. “Image Formation Process”. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 2 (3): 191-212.

Gunn, Clare. 1988. Vacationscapes: Designing Tourist Regions. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.

Heesterman, Jan. 1985. The Inner Conflict of Tradition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Henderson, Carol E. 2007. “Virtual Rajasthan: Making Heritage, Marketing Cyberorientalism?”. In Raj Rhapsodies: Tourism, Heritage and the Seduction of History, edited by Carol E. Henderson and Maxine Weisgrau, 61-81. Burlington (VT): Ashgate.

Husain, Iqbal, ed. 2006. Karl Marx on India. From the New York Daily Tribune. New Delhi: Tulika Books.

Jurvetson, Steve, and Tim Draper. 1997. “Viral Marketing Phenomenon Explained”. [18/05/2015]. http://www.dfj.com/news/article_26.shtml.

Kant, Amitabh. 2009. Branding India: An Incredible Story. Uttar Pradesh (India): Harper Collins.

Laurano, Patrizia. 2011. “Il turismo come strumento di diplomazia pubblica”. Rivista di Scienze del Turismo 1: 45-62.

MacCannell, Dean. 1976. The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class. New York: Schocken Books.

Manganelli, Giorgio. 1992. Esperimento con l’India. Milano: Adelphi.

Mill, James. 1817. The History of British India. London: Baldwin, Craddock and Joy.

Miossec, Jean-Marie. 1977. “L’image touristique comme introduction à la géographie du tourisme”. Annales de Géographie LXXXVI: 55-70.

Morgan, Nigel. 2004. “Problematizing Place Promotion”. In A Companion to Tourism, edited by Alan A. Lew, C. Michael Hall, and Allan M. Williams, 173-183. Malden (MA): Blackwell.

Mori, Luca, e Federico Squarcini. 2008. Yoga. Fra storia, salute e mercato. Roma: Carocci.

Nayar, Pramod. 2006. Reading Culture: Theory, Praxis, Politics. New Delhi: Sage.

Patil, Vrushali. 2011. “Reproducing-Resisting Race and Gender Difference: Examining India’s Online Tourism Campaign from a Transnational Feminist Perspective”. Signs 37 (1): 185-210.

Riley, Roger, and Carlton Van Doren. 1992. “Movies as Tourism Promotion: A Pull Factor in a Push Location”. Tourism Management 13 (3): 267-274.

Rojek, Chris, and John Urry. 1997. “Transformations of Travel and Theory”. In Touring Cultures: Transformations of Travel and Theory, edited by Chris Rojek and John Urry, 1-19. London: Routledge.

Said, Edward. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books.

Sheller, Mimi, and John Urry. 2004. “Places to Play, Places in Play”. In Tourism Mobilities: Places to Play, Places in Play, edited by Mimi Sheller and John Urry, 1-10. London: Routledge.

Silver, Ira. 1993. “Marketing Authenticity in Third World Countries”. Annals of Tourism Research 20 (2): 302-318.

Thangadurai, Saravanan. 2014. Modi’s Idea of India. Chennai: Jayaa Prints.

Thapar, Romila. 1992. Interpreting Early India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Urry, John. 1995. Lo sguardo del turista. Il tempo libero e il viaggio nelle società contemporanee. Roma: SEAM.

Urry, John. 2000. Sociology beyond Societies: Mobilities for the Twenty-first Century. London: Routledge.

Weber, Max. 1958. The Religion of India. Glencoe: Free Press.