Written By: Dr. Amit Mishra
A Tour to the Tourism Industry of India
- Indian Tourism is about 15 Lakh Crore INR business in comparison to the Global Tourism, which is about 83 Lakh Crore INR business.
- The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India is expected to reach 3.05 Crore by the year 2028, which is a source of Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) through tourism.
- By 2020, the medical tourism industry of India is expected to reach 62.38 Crore INR with the introduction of an “E-medical visa” for 163 countries.
India is the world’s 7th largest tourism economy in terms of GDP. With the recent advancement in technologies, availability of a number of mobile apps (Make my Trip, IRCTC connect, GoIbibo, Red Bus, etc.) and access to online booking facilities on smartphones, the tourism business is advancing ahead for a leap in the 21st century in developing countries. Entrepreneurship in the tourism industry has a big role in economic development and expansion. Indian Travel & Tourism Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of about 7% by the year 2021.
Tourism is one of the best business opportunities for budding Entrepreneurs who are planning for a Start-up, because, in the modern education system educational tours, excursions, expeditions, training, and workshops have been given great importance to developing creativity in students.
Travelling has always been a fascination for the human being. In recent years, India has become a hub for medical tourism due to the easy availability of highly qualified and experienced doctors along with trained staffs at an economical price. With the involvement of good planning, governance, statistics, and marketing research the industry has gained attractive features. India has diverse holdings of niche tourism products-cruises, wellness, adventure, medical, sports, MICE (Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions), film, rural, eco-tourism & pilgrimage tourism. Along with pleasure, the industry has also great potential for providing employment to people belonging to different sectors at a significant level; presently it provides 20 Crore employment.
What’s so special about the Tourism Industry in India?
India is a wonderful land, rich history and has a vast geographical and cultural diversity (In 29 states, 780 different languages are spoken in India), from the snow-capped hill stations of Kashmir to the seashores of Kanyakumari, from the Great Rann of Kutch of Gujarat to the hills and valleys of Sikkim. Tourism in India is the primary revenue generating industry. Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Kerela, Karnataka, and Himachal Pradesh are the top visited states in India by Foreign Visitors.
For the creation of tourism infrastructure in the country, Government has planned for two major schemes viz, Swadesh darshan scheme, 13 thematic circuits in the country have been selected and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive). Creation of “Special Tourism zones” by the government has diversified the tourism experiences along with the creation of livelihood improvement of standards of local communities living in those regions. A 24×7 Toll-free multi-lingual tourist infoline (1800111363) in 10 international languages other than Hindi & English is being run by the Ministry of Tourism for providing information to the domestic and international tourists.
India’s travel and tourism industry have vast growth potential. According to a recent joint study conducted by Assocham and Yes Bank, India’s travel and tourism industry are expected to expand soon with the augmentation of the E-visa scheme which is expected to double the international traveler’s inflow to India.
Entrepreneurial behavior is a dynamic process that evolves over time by meeting people of different professional backgrounds. So, it’s very important for Young Entrepreneurs to travel regularly to learn business tactics, strategies and for better understanding of human behavior to excel in business, which you can’t learn sitting with your laptop or computer or discussing with colleagues!
