Tourism in the country is seems to be growing despite a slowdown in all the other sectors of the economy.
The travel and tourism sector will contribute a whopping Rs 32.05 trillion to the gross domestic product by 2028, government data shows. This is almost double that recorded in 2017, when the contribution was Rs 15.24 trillion.
In addition to this, the government has set a target of 20 million foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) and twice the foreign exchange reserves by year 2020.
Daniel D'Souza, president and country head, SOTC travel agency, said, "The employment in the sector has also been growing in small towns and cities nowadays. It doesn't only include soft skills, sales and operations. But we also need people who will work as guides at various destinations or people who can talk to tourists."
In 2018, tourism was the third largest sector to bring foreign exchange reserves to India.
The state governments are also excited about the sector along with the centre. Uttar Pradesh dispensation has allocated a massive sum of Rs 720 crore from its budget this fiscal to strengthen tourism infrastructure.
Reiterating the government's push to the tourism sector, Mahesh Iyer, CEO, Thomas Cook India, said that the government was doing well for the sector. But, he said, if the government could take some positive steps on issues like GST and air-fuel, the sector could further improve its contribution to the GDP.
By 2020, the government wants to achieve the target of receiving 1% of the world's international tourists, and increase it to 2% by 2025.
Now that the festive season is around the corner, companies in the travel sector are gearing up to woo more travellers.
All this is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech, given from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Independence Day, encouraging tourism in the country. And the Centre has been quick to act on this.
Global Tourists
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In 2018, tourism was 3rd largest sector to bring foreign exchange to India
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| By 2020, govt wants to get 1% of all of the world’s tourists to country |
—Zee Media Newsroom
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