Matt Fong’s Blog

India’s outsourced service sector is booming, the way overseas manufacturing boomed in China several years ago; it’s apparent in both the call centers and software outsourcing industries. While India is making great leaps and bounds in its service sector, I question if Indian companies have the knowledge and personnel training necessary to deliver American standard service.

Maybe it’s just coming from world renowned Thai hospitality and the hotel industry, but the service at Mumbai eating establishments is horrible. From the waiter who disgustingly clears his throat before serving my food, to the ignored service requests, and the sweeping up of dust into the air; good service isn’t known in Indian restaurants. Certainly parts of my displeasure are culturally related but I think it stems a little deeper.

Of course training’s the only way to solve this shortcoming, but I wonder how easy that is to accomplish for a society who’s presumably grown-up lacking a service economy.

It seems the “thing to do” amongst Asian tourism authorities these days is to add an adjective in-front of their name and use it as a marketing slogan—you have Incredible India, Unseen Thailand, Uniquely Singapore, and a few I can’t remember but am positive exist for South Korea and Japan.

Unseen Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand probably have one of the most developed tourist infrastructures in all of Asia, especially compared to India. I think the number and popularity as a tourist destination definitely show for it. TAT does a really good job of getting out there and promoting Thailand. When I worked in the hotel industry, we often received site-inspection visits arranged by TAT offices abroad—from the U.S., Russia, Europe, etc.

Are the marketing costs worth it? I think in Thailand’s case definitely; their whole economy is based around tourism and they have a full blown program, starting with advertising abroad, but also following through with support services for tourists who do make the journey.

But this post is really about me finding it not quite as easy getting around India as Thailand and the rest of the Southeast Asian hippy trails. Despite the relatively high percentage of natives who speak English, the tourism network in India is nonexistent. When you go to visit the Gateway to India and the Taj Hotel next door, there really aren’t many signs, tourist maps, historic information, or even tour guides around to help you. I walked right by the Taj, not even knowing its significance until later!

I was reading a contribution on the Duct Tape Marketing Blog Channel about an article that appeared in the New York Times titled MBA Students Bypassing Wall Street for A Summer in India and I was pleasantly reminded of myself . Although I don’t possess an MBA I fully understand the allure of working abroad in the business world.

Although wages typically can’t compare to those offered in the States, the cost of living compared to earned wage and overall quality of life exceeds that which can be found back at home. Combine this with every (well at least for me) college graduates dream to travel (and “explore the real world”) and you have a recipe for enjoyment and success. There was a CNN Business Traveler’s special on reverse outsourcing I saw on television a while ago, but I’m unable to find a link.

To a certain extent, I feel lucky because I have the software and business skills to work in my field virtually anywhere. There has been a thriving Teaching English and a Foreign Language (TEFL) industry that predates all this talk about reverse business outsourcing. Typically the only path for an American college graduate to live/work abroad has been TEFL in Japan, Korea, or areas of Central and South America. The other option of course is the PEACE Corps which has drawbacks of its own. Of course multinationals in this era of globalization, have been sending foreign workers abroad for quite some time. Usually tho, they only send experienced personnel who have been with a company for an extended period of time. They end up offering highly lucrative moving and compensation plans but at that age finding executives who are willing to pack up their families and live abroad is difficult. Anyway, it’s good to see additional options for working abroad and others in similar situations as I.

By-the-way I have a TEFL, but have come to the realization that teaching isn’t something to pursue the rest of my life. As such, I’ve gladly taken this marketing position abroad at a beach resort to gain useful experience while I explore Thailand’s culture.