World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts that the travel and tourism industry in India will grow by 7.5 per cent in 2015, fueled by visa reforms. As per the WTTC in 2014, the industry contributed INR 7,642 billion and 36.7 million jobs to the Indian economy. During 2015, the industry’s GDP contribution is forecast to grow by 7.5 per cent and employment by 1.8 per cent. This demonstrates the sector’s enduring ability to generate economic growth and create jobs at a faster rate than the national economy, which is due to grow by 6.7 per cent in 2015. By the end of 2015, the travel and tourism sector will contribute INR 8,215 billion, seven per cent of India’s GDP, and 37.4 million jobs, almost nine per cent of total employment, once all direct, indirect and induced impacts are taken into account.
In an exclusive with Express TravelWorld, David Scowsill, president and CEO, WTTC, said, “India has an excellent opportunity to benefit from visa reforms and infrastructure improvements under the new government. India’s travel and tourism economy is due to grow by 7.5 per cent in 2015, which is the highest level of growth of any of the major economies in the world. But the overall contribution of India’s travel and tourism sector to the overall economy is still relatively low (6.7 per cent of GDP, against a global average of 9.8 per cent). This shows the depth of the problem that India has faced but also the opportunity.” Scowsill also added a word of caution that with inbound growth there needs to be systematic and simultaneous infrastructure development. While expressing his views, he felt that while the recent Budget announcement of greater investment in high-speed rail infrastructure is a positive step, there is still much greater potential for high-speed rail connectivity between destinations, leveraging the massive railway network. He also touched upon the sensitive issue of taxation. He added that, “India has high luxury taxes in hotels and complicated taxes on travel and tourism services and products generally – which should be addressed. However, I would also urge India to step up its Incredible India campaign globally to help counter-balance some of the negative perceptions about tourism particularly the safety of women which is a global concern.” WTTC also felt that the recent insistence upon biometric data for visitors from France and United Kingdom will have far reaching impacts on travel to India from these countries.
Further, WTTC’s research also warns that nearly 1.6 million jobs are at risk in India’s travel and tourism sector, if governments and private sector companies do not act now to address the talent shortage in the sector. The sector could employ 1,584,000 fewer people and contribute INR 548 billion less in GDP to the economy over the next ten years, when compared to current WTTC growth forecasts, if the government and private companies fail to implement policies which promote proactive and careful talent management. Scowsill continued, “According to WTTC forecasts, travel and tourism has the potential to contribute 46 million jobs to the Indian economy by 2025. But this growth will not happen by itself, and needs careful management, particularly in the area of human capital development. Failure to plan properly for talent requirements leads to lower growth, reduced investment, less innovation and declining competitiveness – for both countries and companies.”