Tourism in India and Its Importance in National Economy

Author: Jugendra Kumar Sharma

Abstract:
Tourism is one of the world’s largest and fastest growing industries. Unlike other industries, it has to depend largely on a number of allied industries. Like hotel, restaurant. Transport etc. It is, therefore, properly called a combination of inter-related industries. India is really a Tourists Paradise. Tourism helps in a significant growth of economic, social, cultural, educational and political sectors. Marketing and promotion are of vital importance in tourism sector due to the competitiveness of tourism industry both within and between tourism generating Nations. Tourism sector creates direct, and indirect employment. It produces a vast spectrum of employment from highly qualified and trained managers of star hotels to room boys, sales girls and artisans with its faster growth new horizons of employment open up for youth of the developing countries. In developing countries like India, tourism has become one of the major sectors of the economy, contributing to a large proportion of the National Income and generating huge employment opportunities. It has become the fastest growing service industry in the country with great potentials for its further expansion and diversification. This paper analyses the change in number of tourist arrivals from 1997 to 2017, in economic growth and the development of tourism. The number of tourist arrivals is directly proportional to the economic growth. India witnessed a grand total of 6.64 million foreign tourist arrivals with annual growth rate of 4.3% in 2012. It rose to 8.69 million in 2017. It is the second largest foreign exchange earner in India recording estimated earnings of Rs. 94487 crore in 2011-12. And rose to Rs 1,52,570 crore in 2017, with world tourist arrivals expected to increase by 43 million every year on an average from 2010 to 2030. The domestic tourism is also a major factor which is contributing to the growth in tourism sector.

Keywords:Tourism, Employment, Gross Domestic Product, Investment, foreign exchange, Tourist Arrivals

DOI:

International Journal of Trade & Commerce (Vol: 7 Issue:2)