Over the past ten years, the travel and tourism sector is known to create one in five of all jobs across the world.
Tourism is increasingly becoming one of the major engines driving economic growth in India as it now contributes close to 10 percent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
According to a report by Statista, tourism accounted for over $250 billion in 2018 that translates to 10 percent of India's roughly $2.5 trillion economy.
The total contribution of travel and tourism to GDP (including wider effects from investment, the supply chain and induced income impacts), was $214.6 billion in 2017 (9.4 percent of GDP) and was expected to grow by 7.5 percent to $230.8 billion (9.4 percent of GDP) in 2018, according to a Travel and Tourism Economic Impact 2018 India report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).
There has been a shift in the perception of tourism, with more people starting to look at travelling as an escape from their monotonous work cycle. Apart from this shift in perception, several measures taken by the Ministry of Tourism has helped in boosting tourism within the country.
Here are some of the factors that have boosted tourism scenes in India:
> Easier visa processThe simplified visa process has been the main driver of the Indian tourism market, which is the largest tourist destination in South Asia, according to the latest report from the UN's World Tourism Organisation.
India's tourism attractiveness has remained weak historically due to the lack of policy support and unavailability of infrastructure. However, the ease of electronic visa processing has significantly benefitted India.
The e-visa policy, launched in November 2014 for 44 countries at nine airports, has been extended to 166 countries, 26 airports and three seaports. These e-visas are available for tourism, business, medical purposes and conferences.
The visa policy played an important role in attracting higher tourist footfalls into India as reflected in a healthy growth in foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) using e-Visa.
The number for foreign tourist arrivals in India jumped 16 percent to 8.8 million in 2016 from 7.68 million in 2014.
The FTAs during the period January-November 2018 were 9.3 million as compared to 8.8 million in the same period in 2017, registering a growth of 5.6 percent over the same period.
International tourist arrivals in India are forecast to rise to 30.46 million, generating expenditure of $46.71 billion, an increase of 5.5 percent per annum.
> Development of tourism infrastructure
The government has been giving priority to developing tourism infrastructure as it would result in a better tourism experience to the tourists. Thus, the government launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme to achieve this objective.
Under this scheme, the government has sanctioned 73 projects across 30 states and Union Territories in the country till date for an amount of Rs 5,873.99 crore. Seven projects were sanctioned during FY19 for a total amount of Rs 384.67 crore.
Nine of the above projects were inaugurated between August to December 2018 in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Nagaland, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.
Facilities such as tourist facilitation centres, eco log huts, craft villages, toilets have been developed at these tourist spots as a part of the above projects.
The move comes as the government understands that tourism is an important source of foreign exchange earnings and job creation. The foreign exchange earnings (FEEs) during January- October 2018 stood at $22.37 billion as compared to $20 billion in the corresponding period in 2017, registering a growth of 11.9 percent over the same period.
Over the past ten years, the travel and tourism sector is known to have created one in five of all jobs across the world and, with the right regulatory conditions and government support, nearly 100 million new jobs could be created over the decade ahead, according to the WTTC report.
Alongside, the government has also been working in collaboration with Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), under "Adopt a Heritage Project", to provide world-class tourist facilities at the various natural/cultural heritage sites, monuments and other tourist sites.
> Incredible India website
With the ongoing digital transformation, the government's idea to set up a go-to website -- Incredible India -- has helped the country attract tourists to smaller cities and towns. The website provides details about tourist spots across India, lists activities that one can indulge in and gives a brief description of the place. It also categorises destinations based on the type of vacation that one may look for such as a short break, adventurous, honeymoon, pilgrims and more.A picture-postcard view of Jhelum River during the fall season. Enjoy a boat cruise along this river when you visit Jammu & Kashmir. #IncredibleIndia pic.twitter.com/0uHKFdbOny
— Incredible!ndia (@incredibleindia) January 24, 2019
The website, which aims to project India as a "must-visit" destination, showcases different types of experiences such as spiritual, adventure, culture, yoga, wellness that one can have in India.
Last year, the ministry also launched Incredible India mobile app, which is equipped with features to assist the traveller in each phase of their journey to India.
Thus, the government seems to be betting on the right sector as the growth of travel and tourism directly impacts a country's economic growth.
