Simpson said visa backlogs pose a significant obstacle, with excessive waiting times ranging from 200 days to a year for certain destinations. “Paper visas should be a thing of the past. India is moving quickly in the e-visas space but it can move faster towards smart QR coded visas like Dubai. Also, destination marketing campaigns (like Incredible India) are absolutely critical to any country which looks to get more visitors. It is a proven fact that countries are competing with each other and those that have good destination marketing campaigns, do better than others,” Simpson told Mint over a video call from Goa.

India’s budget for overseas promotion activities like Incredible India has been slashed by more than half to ₹167 crore this year from ₹525 crore two years ago. Meanwhile, the country has set a target of bringing in 25 million tourists by 2030.

Simpson said that the travel and tourism industry at present is expected to contribute ₹16.5 trillion to the Indian economy this year, about 3.5% below its 2019 figures. The sector will create over 1.6 million more jobs this year, recovering almost all the jobs lost due to the pandemic to reach 39 million. This means, about one in 13 workers in India will be in travel and tourism sector. International visitors are expected to spend ₹2 trillion here, with domestic visitor spend forecast to reach more than ₹12.6 trillion.

Last year, the sector’s contribution to GDP grew almost 90% to reach more than $15.6 trillion, representing 5.9% of the economy, edging closer to the 2019 high of 7%. It created 14.6 million more jobs in 2022 and reached 37.2 million jobs nationally. The research was carried out along with Oxford Economics with information sourced from UNWTO, Oxford Economics and other sources.

The council measures the value of travel and tourism in terms of its economic contribution and represents about 200 companies which account for two-thirds of a trillion US dollars in turnover, equivalent to 30% of the entire sector.

WTTC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the World Tourism Organization of the United Nations (UNWTO) at the G20 ministerial meeting. The idea is to focus on advancing public-private sector cooperation at the global level, promoting job creation, talent development and business opportunities around the world.

The travel and tourism business was worth $10 trillion globally in 2019. At the end of this year, it will be about $9.3 trillion after pandemic battered the industry, and the world reopening in stages and China, accounting for 15% of all travel and tourism spending, opening the last.

“Growth will be double GDP, but we also need governments to focus on reliable energy and sustainable aviation fuel production. Tourism minister G Kishan Reddy has shown great leadership, rallying the G20 ministers under the Goa Roadmap, showing the world that Travel & Tourism boosts economies whilst meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Simpson said.

In India, the sector will grow its GDP contribution to ₹36.8 trillion by 2033 and approximately 7% of the Indian economy and will employ over 58.2 million people across the country, with one in 10 working in the sector.

Updated: 22 Jun 2023, 01:14 PM IST