Economic Outlook for Southeast Asia, China and India 2023

India

 

Source: OECD Development Centre based on data from UNWTO (2022), “Global and regional tourism performance” (database), UN World Tourism Organization, https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance (accessed on 26 November, 2022) and WTTC (2022), “India 2022 Annual Research: key highlights”, https://wttc.org/DesktopModules/MVC/FactSheets/pdf/704/130_20220613162321_India2022_.pdf.

Introduction

India has come a long way in building up its tourism sector thanks to efforts by the government and the private sector to create a diverse range of products and services through infrastructure and human capital development. These efforts include a series of large infrastructure programmes that have made tourist sites more accessible. They have also enabled rural development and enhanced religious and spiritual rejuvenation, the hallmark of Indian tourism and hospitality.

India has a vast and diverse tourism landscape. The focus on wildlife, cultural heritage and unique Indian wellness offerings is an advantage that tourism industry stakeholders could build upon. And there have been earnest efforts by tourism policy makers at the national and regional state levels to do so. The tourism industry is expected to contribute USD 460 billion to national income by 2028 (Chakraborty, 2021). Over the last two years, stimulating domestic tourism has been a key strategy via the Dekho Apna Desh campaign that encourages Indians to explore regions beyond their home state. The government is supporting infrastructure development and is taking a strategic marketing approach to boost India’s competitiveness as a destination.

Current situation and policy challenges

India’s current approach to tourism is based on Swadesh Darshan, or the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits, and on Prasad, which focuses on pilgrimage destinations to provide a religious tourist experience and spiritual wellness. The Swadesh Darshan initiative allows cultural, heritage, wildlife and beach tourism to be separately developed and promoted, but integrated via complementary infrastructure that enhances what India has to offer. The government recently updated Swadesh Darshan to incorporate sustainable and responsible tourism practices, and an ecotourism offering is now one of 15 thematic circuits (Ministry of Tourism, 2022a; 2022b). The approach encourages tourists to combine nearby and distant attractions, from religious-cultural sites to rural and ecotourism trips. Circuit tourism and the Prasad approach can thus enhance the experiences of special-interest tour groups.

However, due to developments in tourism and at key destinations in India, the current theme-based tourism policy approach requires further assessment and focused management. This country note examines and makes recommendations in four areas where policy makers could have a significant impact: wildlife tourism, human resources, tourist safety and infrastructure development.

Wildlife tourism

The creation of experiences such as wildlife tourism can be a challenge for India, particularly if the multiplier effect does not impact local communities. There are instances where, despite good intentions, residents do not benefit from the development of a destination (Chauhan, 2020; Rao and Saksena, 2021; Singh, 2021).

A study on wildlife tourism at the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve found that local residents had been marginalised from primary activities and employment opportunities, with private investors and non-natives taking the lead role in management (Rao and Saksena, 2021). Another study investigated the Gupteswar Cave, a site for pilgrims and visitors (Debata, 2021). Recommendations to protect the cave’s 18 different bat species called for entry controls such as gated entrances, limiting the number of visitors via schedules and restricting the viewing of bat colonies during the mating and birthing seasons. In both instances, issues that should be addressed include lack of co-operation among key stakeholders, inadequate tourism infrastructure and a narrow marketing strategy. Such issues require the attention of key policy makers on a wider scale.

Table 5.2. Parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India, 2021

Type of facility	Total
National parks	104
Tiger reserves	52
Bird sanctuaries	61
Wildlife sanctuaries	566

Source: Bon Travel India (2022), “Wildlife tourism in India”, https://www.bontravelindia.com/wildlife-tourism-india/.

Wildlife protection and conservation efforts need a balanced approach that takes account of local communities. Wildlife tourism should clearly target employment and stakeholding opportunities for local people. Employment opportunities for locals may allow them to earn income from tourist activities rather than through poaching and selling of hides. This would help protect wildlife at national parks and sanctuaries.

Human resources

Talent development in the industry is another key challenge for Indian tourism. Evidence suggests that employees from the hospitality sector have greater intentions to stay with their job if the organisational culture is supportive of employee growth and development (Gupta, 2019). At the macro level, human resources for the tourism and hospitality industry are shaped by India’s Institutes of Hotel Management (IHM) and Food Craft Institutes (FCI), which follow the directives of the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology (Ministry of Tourism, 2022c). As of 2020, India had 46 IHMs, 14 FCIs and about 220 universities and technical schools offering degrees in hospitality and tourism (Kumar, Suklabaidya and Gautam, 2020; Sardar, 2021). India’s current preoccupation is to ensure that these young adults enter the workforce with sufficient skills to raise service standards.

In order to achieve a higher standard of hospitality services, India should continue expanding collaboration with international universities for student and faculty exchange programmes. It should also introduce technology as a keystone in modernising the tourism and hospitality sectors. Especially in rural communities, many attractions appear to lack employees with the proper hospitality skills. Private and public institutions offering a range of tertiary skills are rare in remote regions like Ladakh, and Simla.

Tourist safety and government initiatives

Indians have an expression, Atithi Devo Bhava, meaning “our guest is God”. In tourism, this means that safety, security, convenience and accessibility need to be satisfactory in order for the warmth of Indian hosts to be felt by visitors (Incredible!ndia, 2004). Given that studies have shown that crime adversely affects tourist perceptions of India as a destination, more needs to be done to educate Indians and tourists alike on safety precautions and understanding the tourism landscape. In certain major cities, such as Mumbai, crime against tourists is a major concern (Times of India, 2019). A police presence at key attractions and bus terminals might help to allay tourists’ fears.

The Ministry of Tourism’s latest annual report (2021-22) presents an overview of the identification, consolidation and diversification of existing and new tourism products (Ministry of Tourism, 2022d). There is increased government awareness of the significance of the tourism sector. Various financial schemes have been put in place for educational institutes to promote training and development of human capital, diversification into MICE tourism and various nature-based adventure activities. These initiatives, together with the continued leveraging of the country’s power of attraction for the film industry, are expected to cause tourist arrivals to surge beyond 2023.

Infrastructure development

Infrastructure development is a key aspect of stimulating the tourism industry, and road-network and other development is indeed taking place. However, much more investment is needed to manage the increasing number of tourists going to popular destinations such as Agra, Pangong Lake and even urban sites such as New Delhi’s Connaught Circle. An expansion of road connections to Agra and Pangong Lake is much needed. The road from Leh to Pangong Lake can be treacherous, with a single lane on largely mountainous terrain including stretches that are not properly tarmacked. The Connaught Road circle in the capital also requires review as to how the structures and space can be spruced up to create a proper tourist and local leisure site. One possible way would be to lease management of the buildings in the circle to a private enterprise, with stipulations on maintenance, subleasing and promotion.

A final aspect of Indian tourism is the need to educate citizens, as well as international visitors, about waste disposal. A complaint of many visitors is that there are no proper trash bins at key points of an attraction. Due to this inconvenience, the easiest way to deal with waste is to throw it just about anywhere. The unsightly result at what could have been a clean and attractive site may have a negative impact on both the environment and visitors. Part of the larger infrastructure development effort could be to install convenient trash bins and signs concerning litterbug fines in order to help shape the behaviour of tourists.

References

Bon Travel India, (2022), “Wildlife tourism in India”, https://www.bontravelindia.com/wildlife-tourism-india/.

Chakraborty, P. (2021), “New version of Swadesh Darshan Scheme soon: Tourism Secretary”, TravelBiz Monitor, 8 March 2021, https://travelbizmonitor.com/.

Chauhan, E. (2020), “Challenges to community participation in heritage tourism development: Case studies of Shahjahanabad and Nizamuddin Basti in New Delhi, India”, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol. 248, https://www.witpress.com/elibrary/wit-transactions-on-ecology-and-the-environment/248/37746, pp. 225-233.

Debata, S. (2021), “Bats in a cave tourism and pilgrimage site in eastern India: Conservation challenges”, Oryx, Vol. 55/5, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/bats-in-a-cave-tourism-and-pilgrimage-site-in-eastern-india-conservation-challenges/16464A97CB6779E4E7E1C3E312D78EF3, pp. 684-691.

Gupta, V. (2019), “Talent management dimensions and their relationship with retention of Generation-Y employees in the hospitality industry”, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 31/10, https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJCHM-10-2018-0859/full/html, pp. 4150-4169.

IMF (2022), “World Economic Outlook Database”, (accessed October 2022).

Incredible!ndia (2004), “atithi devo bhava”, Ministry of Tourism, captured 3 January 2009, accessed 25 November 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20090103003844/http://www.incredibleindia.org/newsite/atithidevobhava.htm#3

Kumar, S., P. Suklabaidya and P.K. Gautam, (2020), “Tourism education and industry expectations: Critical analysis of the skills required”, Global Journal of Enterprise Information System, Vol. 12/3, https://gjeis.com/index.php/GJEIS/article/view/583, pp. 39-47.

Ministry of Tourism (2022a), “India: Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned 6 projects under eco theme in Swadesh Darshan scheme: Shri G. Kishan Reddy”, press release, 10 February 2022, Government of India, https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1797238.

Ministry of Tourism (2022b), “Ministry of Tourism has revamped Swadesh Darshan 2.0 for development of sustainable and responsible destinations with tourist and destination centric approach: Shri G Kishan Reddy”, press release, 21 July 2022, Government of India, https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1843505.

Ministry of Tourism (2022c), “Human resource development”, Government of India, https://tourism.gov.in/human-resource-development.

Ministry of Tourism (2022d), Annual Report 2021-2022, Government of India, https://tourism.gov.in/sites/default/files/2022-07/Annual%20Report%202021-22%20%28English%29.pdf.

Rao, A. and S. Saksena (2021), “Wildlife tourism and local communities: Evidence from India”, Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, Vol. 2/1, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666957921000070, pp. 1-10.

Sardar, S. (2021), “Human resources development in tourism and the role of government: The case of Indian tourism”, Journal of the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vol. 55/1, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350383345_Human_Resources_Development_in_Tourism_and_the_Role_of_Government_The_Case_of_Indian_Tourism, pp. 40-50.

Singh, L. (2021), “Rural tourism and its contribution to sustainable development in Jyotisar, Kurukshetra (Haryana), India”, in Lubowiecki-Vikuk, A., et al. (eds), Handbook of Sustainable Development and Leisure Services, World Sustainability Series, Springer International Publishing, https://www.springerprofessional.de/en/rural-tourism-and-its-contribution-to-sustainable-development-in/18773684.

Times of India (2019), “Rise in crime will take a toll on tourism: Digambar Kamat”, 17 July 2019, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/rise-in-crime-will-take-a-toll-on-tourism-kamat/articleshow/70252333.cms.

UNWTO (2022), “Global and regional tourism performance” (database), UN World Tourism Organization, https://www.unwto.org/tourism-data/global-and-regional-tourism-performance (accessed on 26 November, 2022).

WTTC (2022), “India 2022 Annual Research: key highlights”, https://wttc.org/DesktopModules/MVC/FactSheets/pdf/704/130_20220613162321_India2022_.pdf.