India is the world’s seventh largest tourism economy in terms of GDP: WTTC

India is the world’s seventh largest tourism economy in terms of GDP: WTTC

India’s Travel & Tourism sector ranks seventh in the world in terms of its total contribution to the country’s GDP, shows a new report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). According to the new data, Travel & Tourism generated INR 14.1 trillion (USD208.9 billion) in 2016, which is the world’s seventh largest in terms of absolute size, the sum is equivalent to 9.6% of India’s GDP. Additionally, the sector supported 40.3 million jobs in 2016, which ranks India second in the world in terms of total employment supported by Travel & Tourism. The sector accounts for 9.3% of the country’s total jobs. India’s Travel & Tourism sector was also the fastest growing amongst the G20 countries, growing by 8.5% in 2016. A further 6.7% growth is forecast for 2017. India’s strong Travel & Tourism figures are predominantly (मुख्य रूप से) generated by domestic travel, which accounts for 88% of the sector’s contribution to GDP in 2016. Visitor exports, money spent by foreign travellers in India, only represents 12% of tourism revenues and in 2016 totalled INR1.5 trillion (USD22.8bn). This is 5.4% of the country’s total exports, compared to a global average of 6.6%. Data from the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows that India received only 9 million international arrivals in 2016, placing it 40th in the world, and a tenth of those received by top-ranking France. David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC, said: “India is a tremendous Travel & Tourism economy and I am pleased to see the sector GDP is growing. However, we believe that these numbers could be even higher, and that the positive impact of our sector could be more wide-ranging. India has a huge potential to increase its international visitors and, in doing so, it can create more jobs and drive economic growth. We encourage the Indian government to continue to adopt policies that encourage travellers, such as the new visa regime(शासन), enable investment in vital infrastructure, and allow companies to do business. India is a beautiful and diverse tourism destination, with the right policies in place it will no doubt continue to grow towards ranking even higher in terms of its tourism economy.”