'Buy Buy Buy!': Viral Delhi Airport Video Sparks Row Over Sales Tactics and Immigration
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
A viral video recorded by a United States visitor highlighting "mean" immigration officers and aggressive duty-free sales tactics at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport has triggered a fierce online debate, drawing sharp criticism from industrialist Harsh Goenka.
Damon Zumbroegel, a California resident who has been visiting India for 30 years, posted footage on social media platform X showing the immediate pathway travellers take after clearing immigration. Criticising the layout and sales pressure, Zumbroegel noted that passengers are forced to walk through a commercial corridor barely five feet from the passport control counters.
“Here we are arriving in India, where every time I come to India the immigration is so mean,” Zumbroegel said in the video, before turning his camera towards the retail zone. “They literally make you walk through this. This is the first thing you see in India.”
Writing in the video caption, he added:
“WELCOME TO INDIA? This is how one enters India in Delhi. The welcome to all visitors......Immigration...then...'BUY BUY BUY BUY BUY!'. Not even 5 feet from immigration.”
Harsh Goenka Demands Action
The footage caught the attention of RPG Group chairman Harsh Goenka, who amplified the traveller's concerns and tagged Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol.
"At most of our airports, as you clear immigration and walk through the duty-free area, salespeople swarm around passengers, aggressively pushing products. Surely we can do better. Let's give passengers a dignified, hassle-free entry into our country @RamMNK," Goenka wrote on X.
The duty-free area, through which all international arrivals must pass, sells items such as spirits, cosmetics, luxury fragrances, chocolates, and snacks free of local import duties, sales taxes, or value-added tax (VAT).
Internet Divided Over Airport Design
The controversy sparked a divided response online, with critics labelling the aggressive sales tactics "pure harassment" and unique to India, while defenders including non-resident Indian (NRI) frequent flyers argued that walk-through duty-free zones are standard practice worldwide, noting that sales representatives are easily managed with a simple nod or polite refusal rather than online grievances.
