The post-pandemic world opens up the premise for a strong recovery for the Indian economy, especially the tourism sector.
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| The architectural wonder of the world - the Taj Mahal temple in India was honored as a world cultural heritage in 1983. Photo: Former US President Donald Trump and his wife visited this special place during their visit to India in February 2020. (Source: Smithsonian Magazine) |
As the world enters the post-Covid-19 reconstruction phase, countries are actively kick-starting their economies, resuming global trade relations, and supporting the recovery of the domestic private sector. Some countries are facing difficulties and finding it difficult to recover from the overwhelming impact of the pandemic. However, others have shown strong resilience thanks to effective economic policies and synchronous cooperation between the state and the people.
India is a prime example of countries recovering and growing rapidly after the pandemic, with tourism being a key economic driver. So how has New Delhi made concrete progress?
Impressive numbers
According to a report by Booking.com and McKinsey & Company, Indian tourists will play a key role in the recovery of the travel industry in 2022, accounting for 78% of 2019 travel spending, compared to 52% for other Asian countries. Indian tourists are expected to increase their spending significantly in the coming years, making New Delhi the fourth largest travel spender globally by 2030, with an estimated $410 billion.
This is a 173% increase from 2019, when Indian tourists spent a total of $150 billion, making New Delhi the sixth-largest tourism spender globally. Furthermore, the report predicts that the number of trips by tourists from the South Asian country will increase from $2.3 billion in 2019 to $5 billion by 2030.
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| Varanasi city on the banks of the Ganges River, one of the most beautiful and sacred lands of the Indians. (Source: The Times) |
Another report from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) Economic Impact Study (EIR) said that the Indian tourism industry is set to grow significantly in 2022, with its contribution to GDP increasing by nearly 90% to cross Rs 15.6 trillion. This represents 5.9% of the overall economy, approaching the pre-pandemic peak of 7% in 2019.
The sector has now recovered strongly and is approaching pre-pandemic levels. Travel and tourism is expected to contribute Rs 16.5 trillion to the Indian economy in 2023, just 3.5% lower than the 2019 figure.
Furthermore, tourism services will create 1.6 million additional jobs, taking the total employment in the sector to nearly 39 million. Additionally, domestic tourist spending is expected to exceed Rs 12.6 trillion.
By 2033, the travel and tourism sector is expected to grow significantly and contribute Rs 36.8 trillion to the national GDP. This is about 7% of the Indian economy. At the same time, the tourism industry is expected to create employment opportunities for over 58.2 million people nationwide, indicating that about 1 in 10 people will be employed in the tourism sector.
Speaking at the G20 Summit in India, WTTC President & CEO Julia Simpson welcomed the recovery progress of the Indian tourism industry, noting that the sector is growing at twice the rate of GDP not only in India but across all G20 countries.
Mr. Julia Simpson affirmed that the G20 Presidency has allowed India to highlight the potential contribution of tourism to the global economic recovery period.
Strategic vision
To promote the above growth momentum, New Delhi has proposed, developed and implemented programs in line with the trend, including sustainable tourism and adventure tourism with four main goals: creating job and business opportunities; enhancing the competitiveness of the industry; attracting private sector investment and FDI; preserving and upgrading cultural and natural resources, promoting sustainable tourism development.
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| The gilded Harmandir Sahib temple in Punjab state sits on the sacred waters of Lake Sarovar. (Source: Shutterstock) |
In April 2022, the Ministry of Tourism of India launched a national strategy for sustainable tourism, outlining the vision, mission and strategic pillars for sustainable tourism development in the country. In November of the same year, New Delhi organized the first regional workshop on sustainable development of scenic spots, with special attention to key tourist cities such as Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh.
In addition, the Ministry of Tourism has especially promoted two initiatives, “Swadesh Darshan 2.0” and “Adopt a Heritage: Apni Dharohar, Apni Pehchaan”, to encourage stakeholders to develop and upgrade tourism infrastructure in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.
Similar to sustainable tourism, New Delhi has launched a national strategy for adventure tourism, with the aim of making India a leading adventure tourism destination in the world. This is considered a strength of the South Asian country, because India possesses outstanding geographical advantages such as 70% of the Himalayas and 7,000 km of coastline.
India is also one of the three countries in the world with both hot and cold deserts, ranks 10th in total forest cover and 6th in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. India’s adventure tourism industry, though still young, was valued at $0.3 billion in 2019 and is estimated to exceed $2 billion by 2028, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 20%.
Thus, the Indian tourism industry has been on a growth trajectory since the pandemic, with a large contribution to the overall economy, both in terms of GDP and employment. To continue that momentum, New Delhi is actively promoting many practical initiatives to help the South Asian country develop sustainable tourism and aim to attract a large number of international tourists.
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