India is strengthening its status as a major global gateway market for travelers. But, on its own ground, all is not well.
In Bulbul Dhawan, the travel and tourism industry has recovered significantly, according to a recent report from the World Travel and Tourism Council ( WTTC ), but India’s travel and tourism industry continues to spend money abroad at levels below those set by Covid. The WTTC report revealed: The travel and tourism sector’s contribution to Indian GDP stood at INR 19.13 trillion ($ 230 billion ) in 2023, nearly 10 % increase over 2019 levels.
Employment in the industry increased 8 % to 43 million.
Domestic tourist spending was INR 14.64 trillion ($ 175 billion ) last year, up 15 % from pre- Covid levels.
International guest spending was over 14 % behind the 2019 levels.
By 2030, consulting company McKinsey and Company had previously predicted that India would be the fourth-largest regional go market in terms of spending. Rikant Pittie, the co-founder of online travel agency EaseMyTrip, endorsed the WTTC statement. He said,” Regional travel and the hospitality industry, in recent times, has become the foundation of India’s economic development, especially with the administration’s focus on promoting India as an equivalent to a global destination “.According to new data from aviation analytics firm OAG, India is now the second- largest private aviation market, after the U. S. and China. India’s home atmosphere passenger traffic in 2023- 24 even surpassed pre- Covid levels, Earlier this year, Hyatt Hotels CEO Mark Hoplamazian also spoke about his company’s focus on India, especially its local travelers. Indians travel within India and discover the region, he said, indicating that the government’s leisure travel market is mostly fueled by this. ” The luxury hotel industry is a major player in the American market, which has seen a rise since the ending of last year. Particularly article Covid, India inbound became the term. American travelers also started to like India more because of the combined effects of higher marketing efforts and higher international prices, according to Arindam C Bahel, general director of The Fern Brentwood Resort in Mussoorie. According to the WTTC statement, the tourism industry in India is projected to be away of 2019 by the end of this year across four metrics: Contribution to Indian business, career, domestic user spending, and foreign visitor spending. It estimates that: The sector will contribute almost INR 21.15 trillion ($ 253 billion ) to India’s GDP in 2024.
Jobs in the industry will increase by 2.45 million this year, equaling one in 11 jobs in India.
Spending on travel abroad will increase by more than 17 %.
Domestic visitor spending will increase by almost 10 %.
There are risks to these projections, however: During the peak domestic travel period in summer, a record number of travelers left due to the heatwave in North India. Additionally, the extreme weather condition caused a nearly 40 % decline in inbound flights in May from April 2024. Ajay Bakaya, managing director of Sarovar Hotels and Resorts, has a different perspective in spite of these positive projections from WTTC. ” 2023 was a phenomenal year. Our domestic tourists climbed all over our locations. In 2024, we have seen changes. From January to March, we had a really positive first quarter, and April saw a respectable increase. However, some locations have experienced decline in May and June. It could be the elections, but the results were far below expectations and budgets”, he said, adding that he hopes for it to be a short- term blip. Bakaya also stated that while India’s overall tourism industry has been successful, the situation is not favorable for hill stations. ” All across Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, tourism this year has been below 2022 and 2023 levels. Our outbound travel is now healthier and stronger because of more choices, easier visas, and more affordable flights. He thinks that in the long run hill stations will return to pre-Covid levels of reasonable business, but wo n’t experience a booming business. He explained that Goa, which is arguably India’s top tourist destination, is also not experiencing the growth it should. ” So, the picture is very good and very positive, but it is not all hunky dory. We’ll have some challenges before we scale the peak”, he said. Meanwhile, international inbound is lagging. Additionally, India has reduced its$ 97 % budget for global tourism promotion. We’re all hoping for the best possible outcome of what will happen starting October 2024 ( the inbound tourism season in India ), but so far we have only seen a small amount of inbound travel, according to Bakaya. It has been disappointing”.
