At present, an important industry in India is the tourism industry. It is a growing industry, a source of huge employment and earns a huge amount of foreign exchange for the country. Tourism in India is the third largest foreign exchange earner in the country. The flourishing tourism industry has a positive effect on the hospitality sector with an increase in the occupancy ratios and average room rates.
As per World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), India is one of the favourite tourist destinations from the year 2009 and will continue to be one of the favourites till 2018. Further, the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report by World Economic Forum, has ranked India at the sixth place in tourism and hospitality. India has become a booming hub of hotel management institutes.
One of the top 10 sectors in India which attract the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is the Tourism and Hospitality sector. According to the data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the hotel and tourism sector attracted around US$ 9.2 billion of FDI between April 2000 and March 2016.
Several steps have been taken by the Indian government to make India a global tourism hub. The government has initiated ‘Project Mausam’ under which it has proposed to establish cross-cultural linkages and to revive historic maritime cultural and economic ties with 39 Indian Ocean countries. According to previous planning the government has also introduced e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) for 150 countries as against the earlier coverage of 113 countries. Many Hotel Management Institutes are coming up and the government is supporting it wholeheartedly.
Growth in tourism and travel is the reason behind the prosperity of the hotel industry in India. There is an increase in tourism with rising foreign and domestic tourists and because of this the hotel sector is bound to grow. The majority of the population seek an affordable stay and for this reason there is an emergence of budget hotels in India to cater to their needs. International companies are also showing interest in setting up such hotels. To cope with the increase in both domestic and foreign tourists the hotel industry is developing at a fast rate and so there is a huge opportunity for growth.