The tourism industry in India should target USD 50 billion revenues by 2022 as the industry has immense multiplier impact in the economy and are the drivers of employment, said NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant at the ’15th CII Annual Tourism Summit 2019.
India’s total earning from tourism was about USD 28.6 billion in 2018. In terms of revenue from international tourists, India has only 1.97 per cent share of the total global earnings. In terms of tourist arrivals (number of people), it is only 1.2 per cent which is very marginal for a huge country like India. “So, we need to take it up to 3.5 per cent from 1.2 per cent so that we reach the tourism revenue target of USD 50 billion by 2022,” he said.
On the policy front, Kant said that the government has supported the tourism sector and has reduced GST rates for room tariffs. The GST (goods and services tax) rate on hotel rooms with tariffs of up to Rs 7,500 per night has been cut to 12 per cent from the existing 18 per cent. Similarly, the tax on rooms with tariff above Rs 7,500 has been slashed to 18 per cent from the existing 28 per cent. There will be no GST on rooms with tariffs below Rs 1,000 per night.
Tourism is essentially a private sector activity and every single segment of the sector from the tourist point of arrival to point of departure, tourist operators, travel agent, tourist guides, cab operators, resorts to hotels, everything is operated by the private sector. Kant pointed out that the government can act as a catalyst and urged the industry body CII to work with industry and state governments and work towards a public private partnership for the tourism industry.
Dipak Haksar, Chief Executive, ITC Hotels and Welcom Hotels and Chairman of CII National Committee on Tourism and Hospitality, said ,“Our strategic intent for India is to double its tourist arrivals from 10 to 20 million by 2024.” However, Tourism Secretary Yogendra Tripathi pointed out that there is a huge challenge with regard to tourist guides in India and the government is making attempts for their training and certification.
