Fact Sheet

    Tourism development in India has passed through many phases. At Government level the development of tourist facilities was taken up in a planned manner in 1956 coinciding with the Second Five Year Plan. The approach has evolved from isolated planning of single unit facilities in the Second and Third Five Year Plans. The Sixth Plan marked the beginning of a new era when tourism began to be considered a major instrument for social integration and economic development.

    But it was only after the 80’s that tourism activity gained momentum. The Government took several significant steps. A National Policy on tourism was announced in 1982. Later in 1988, the National Committee on Tourism formulated a comprehensive plan for achieving a sustainable growth in tourism. In July 1991, tourism was also declared as a priority sector for foreign investment. In 1992, a National Action Plan was prepared and in 1996 the National Strategy for Promotion of Tourism was drafted.

    The other major development that took place were the setting up of the India Tourism Development Corporation in 1966 to promote India as a tourist destination and the Tourism Finance Corporation in 1989 to finance tourism projects. Altogether, 21 Government-run Hotel Management and Catering Technology Institutes and 14 Food Craft Institutes were also established for imparting specialised training in hoteliering and catering.

    India is a country known for its lavish treatment to all visitors, no matter where they come from. Its visitor-friendly traditions, varied life styles and cultural heritage and colourful fairs and festivals held abiding attractions for the tourists. The other attractions include beautiful beaches, forests and wild life and landscapes for eco-tourism, snow, river and mountain peaks for adventure tourism, technological parks and science museums for science tourism; centres of pilgrimage for spiritual tourism; heritage trains and hotels for heritage tourism. Yoga, ayurveda and natural health resorts also attract tourists.

    The Indian handicrafts particularly, jewellery, carpets, leather goods, ivory and brass work are the main shopping items of foreign tourists. The estimates available through surveys indicate that nearly forty per cent of the tourist expenditure on shopping is spent on such items.

    Domestic tourism is as old as the Indian society. According to available statistics, domestic tourism has grown substantially during the last one decade. It increased to 175 million in 1999 from just 83 million in 1991, thus registering a compound annual growth of 9.8 per cent.

    The growth of inbound tourism since Independence has been quite impressive. It was just around 17 thousand in 1951. From this level it rose to 2.48 million in 1999.

    Tourism has emerged as an instrument of employment generation, poverty alleviation and sustainable human development. During 1998-99, employment generation through tourism was estimated at 14.79 million.

    Domestic tourist spending per year is around Rs. 24,000 crore and foreign exchange earnings from the tourism are estimated more than Rs.12,011 crore. Tourism receives have grown at a phenomenal rate of about 18 per cent since 1951. Thus Tourism has become the second largest net foreign exchange earner for the country.

Tourism also contributed Rs.24,241 crore during 1998-99 towards the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

- Direct Employment (1998-99) - 14.8 million

- Indirect Employment - 20.1 million

    In order to speed up the development of tourism in the country several thrust areas have been identified for accomplishment during the Ninth Five Year Plan (1997-2002). The important ones are development of infrastructure, products, trekking, winter sports, wildlife and beach resorts and streamlining of facilitation procedures at airports, human resource development and facilitating private sector participation in the growth of infrastructure.

    The basic strategy during the 9^th Plan is to establish effective coordination with all the relevant agencies to as to achieve synergy in the development of tourism.

    For the 9^th Plan period (1997-2002), the Planning Commission has approved a Plan outlay of Rs. 793.75 crores for the Ministry of Tourism comprising Direct Budgetary Support of Rs. 485.75 crores and internal and external resources of Rs. 308.00 crores.

    Tourism development is a composite subject and does not necessarily mean the development of only the tourism facilities like hotels, restaurants, recreational activities etc. In fact, creation of tourism infrastructure will be meaningful only if the areas has the minimum basic amenities and infrastructure like roads, water, electricity, sewerage and telecommunication facilities. This aspect has given importance in the Tourism 'Synergy' programme. The State Governments have been asked to prepare Master Plans for the development of tourism based on the same concept.

    The organisations involved in the development of tourism in India are the Ministry of Tourism and Culture with its 21 field offices within the country and 18 abroad, Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology, India Tourism Development Corporation, Indian Institute of Skiing and Mountaineering and the National Institute of Water Sports for HRD development in the area of Tourism.

    Accommodation of quality is basic infrastructure for the development of Tourism. The Ministry of Tourism approves hotels from the point of view of their suitability for international tourists. Various incentives and benefits are linked to such approvals. As on September, 1999 there were 1229 hotels with 68032 rooms and on the approved list of Ministry of Tourism. Break up of these hotels category wise is as below:

    Some of the recent initiatives taken by the Government to boost tourism include grant of export house status to the tourism sector and incentives for promoting private investment in the form of Income Tax exemptions, interest subsidy and reduced import duty. The hotel and tourism-related industry has been declared a high priority industry for foreign investment which entails automatic approval of direct investment up to 51 per cent of foreign equity and allowing 100 per cent non-resident Indian investment and simplifying rules regarding the grant of approval to travel agents, tour operators and tourist transport operators.

    In 1996 a public sector corporation was set up under the Ministry to pioneer the development tourism infrastructure specially hotels in the country. The present network of ITDC comprises 26 Ashok Group Hotels, 6 Joint Venture Hotels, 5 Restaurants, 11 Ashok Travel and Transport units, 29 Duty Free Shops at 6 Airports and a Down-Town Duty Free Shop in Delhi. The Government is actively considering disinvestment of ITDC to ensure private participation.

    The major constraint in the expansion of international tourist traffic to India is non-availability of adequate infrastructure including adequate air seat capacity, accessibility to tourist destinations, accommodation and trained manpower in sufficient number.

    Much has been achieved by way of increasing air seat capacity, increasing trains and railway connectivity to important tourist destinations, four-laning of roads connecting important tourist centres and increasing availability of accommodation by adding heritage hotels to the hotel industry and encouraging paying guest accommodation. But much more remains to be done. Since tourism is a multi-dimensional activity, and basically a service industry, private sector and voluntary organisations become active partners in the endeavour to attain sustainable growth in tourism if India is to become a world player in the tourist industry.