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Daily-current-affairs / 22 Jul 2025

India’s Tourism Sector in 2025: Opportunities, Gaps, and Government Initiatives

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In July 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for transforming Indian tourism into a trillion-dollar sector by 2047. This vision was reinforced by the NITI Aayog in its “India Tourism Vision 2047,” which outlined a roadmap to increase the sector’s contribution to GDP from the current 5% to 10%. This renewed focus has placed tourism squarely at the centre of India’s economic strategy for Amrit Kaal—India’s journey towards becoming a developed nation by its centenary of independence.

  • India's tourism sector, deeply intertwined with its cultural heritage, biodiversity, and service economy, is not just a leisure industry. It is a powerful tool for job creation, foreign exchange earnings, rural development, and global soft power projection. With nearly 10 crore international tourists visiting Thailand in 2023 and only about 1 crore visiting India, the gap is both a challenge and an opportunity.

As India sets its sights on becoming a $32 trillion economy by 2047, scaling up the tourism industry is not a peripheral objective—it is central to the vision.

Tourism in India: Current Status and Growth Trajectory:

  • Tourism contributed 5% to India’s GDP in FY23 and supported 7.6 crore jobs across direct and indirect channels. According to the Ministry of Tourism, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) reached approximately 1 crore in 2024, recovering from the post-pandemic slump. Foreign exchange earnings from tourism crossed $28 billion in 2023, reaffirming its economic significance.
  • India currently ranks 14th globally in tourism receipts and attracts only 1.45% of the world’s international tourists. In contrast, global tourism giants like France, Spain, and Thailand draw many times that number.
  • What makes India stand out, however, is its robust domestic tourism market. Indians took over 2 billion domestic trips in 2023 alone, making internal tourism a powerful driver of demand, infrastructure development, and cultural exchange.

What Makes India a Unique Tourism Destination:

India’s competitive advantage in tourism stems from its diversity—geographical, cultural, spiritual, and medical. This allows the country to cater to multiple market segments at once.

Key pillars of India’s tourism offering include:

·         Spiritual and cultural heritage: With sites like Varanasi, Amritsar, Hampi, Ajanta-Ellora, and the Char Dham circuit, India is a global magnet for spiritual tourism. The Ramayana Circuit and Buddhist Circuit are now being actively promoted under the Dekho Apna Desh campaign.

·         Medical and wellness tourism: India offers high-quality, low-cost medical procedures in cities like Chennai, Delhi, and Mumbai, attracting patients from West Asia, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Wellness resorts in Kerala and Uttarakhand offer Ayurveda and Yoga, adding a traditional dimension to modern care.

·         Nature and adventure: From the Himalayas to the Western Ghats, from the Rann of Kutch to the Sundarbans, India’s biodiversity hotspots offer trekking, wildlife safaris, river rafting, and ecotourism.

·         Events and MICE tourism: With improved convention centres and upgraded airports, India is positioning itself as a hub for meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE). G20-related tourism in 2023–24 showed India's capacity to host large global gatherings.

Challenges:

Despite its vast potential, India’s share in global tourism remains small. Several structural challenges continue to hamper growth:

·         Inadequate last-mile connectivity: Many tourist destinations lack proper roads, railways, or direct air access. This limits access to remote and emerging destinations.

·         Safety and hygiene concerns: Cleanliness, public toilets, and women’s safety remain persistent issues, particularly in rural and semi-urban destinations.

·         Visa and entry barriers: High visa costs, lack of group tourism facilitation, and complex e-visa procedures are major deterrents for foreign travellers.

·         Skilling gaps in hospitality sector: Lack of trained staff in tourism-facing roles—such as guides, hotel workers, and interpreters—leads to inconsistent visitor experience.

·         Underdeveloped digital infrastructure: Tourists expect seamless digital experiences—from booking and navigation to payments and reviews. Many Indian destinations still lack robust digital integration.

These issues not only impact tourist satisfaction but also affect India’s global ranking in the Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI), where it was ranked 54th in 2021.

India’s Tourism Sector in 2025

Government Interventions and Policy Push:

Recognising tourism’s transformative potential, the government has launched multiple schemes and initiatives to scale up the sector.

·         Swadesh Darshan 2.0: Focuses on sustainable and theme-based tourism infrastructure development in 50 destinations.

·         PRASHAD Scheme: Aims to improve infrastructure at religious heritage sites with a focus on spiritual tourism.

·         UDAN Scheme: Enhances regional air connectivity to tier-2 and tier-3 cities, unlocking new tourist circuits.

·         Dekho Apna Desh: A campaign to promote domestic travel and awareness, with financial incentives for group travel and state-level competition.

In addition, states like Gujarat, Kerala, and Madhya Pradesh have crafted their own tourism policies focused on eco-tourism, heritage hospitality, and cinematic tourism.

The Vision for 2047: India as a Global Tourism Powerhouse

The government’s 2047 vision includes doubling the tourism sector’s contribution to GDP and creating 15 crore tourism-related jobs. Key priorities for realising this include:

·         Digital-first tourism services: Universal adoption of digital booking, multilingual virtual guides, and AI-based tourist assistance.

·         Infrastructure overhaul: Better roads, rail, and air connectivity; clean toilets; and smart signage across tourist circuits.

·         Visa liberalisation: Expanded visa-on-arrival and multi-entry group visas to make India more tourist-friendly.

·         Strategic branding: A unified, consistent “Incredible India” campaign with stronger international outreach through embassies, festivals, and social media.

·         Community-based tourism: Empowering local communities and SHGs to manage homestays, eco-guides, and cultural events for inclusive growth.

Conclusion:

Tourism in India is no longer just about sightseeing—it is a multi-dimensional sector that can contribute to rural livelihoods, environmental awareness, gender equity, and cross-cultural understanding. As India aims to become a developed economy by 2047, tourism must be treated not as an auxiliary service sector, but as a core growth driver.

By investing in infrastructure, skilling, and policy reforms, India can transform its tourism potential into an economic powerhouse—unlocking prosperity not just for cities and monuments, but for villages, craftspeople, and communities across the country.

 

Main question: “How important are heritage conservation and community participation for ensuring ‘sustainable development’ in the Indian tourism sector?” Discuss.