India‘s travel market could top $125 billion in 2027 from an estimated $75 billion in FY20. This is the conclusion of a new report published by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry FICCI.
In 2020, the country’s tourism industry accounted for 31.8 million jobs, a figure which is likely to grow to 53 million by 2029. The new report also highlights that the country saw close to 20 million foreign visitors in 2019, with international tourist arrivals expected to reach 30.5 million by 2028.
According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, which the FICCI report cited, international tourism saw a 182% year-on-year increase in January-March, with destinations worldwide welcoming an estimated 117 million international arrivals compared to 41 million in Q1 2021.
Before the onset of the pandemic, the Indian travel and tourism industry was expected to witness an annual growth rate of 6.9% during 2019-2028 to reach $460 billion, approximately 9.9% of India’s GDP in 2028.
The total contribution of travel and tourism to the GDP in India in 2019 was 7% of the total economy or US$ 19.8 billion. This plummeted to 4.3% of the total country GDP in 2020. In 2021, the figure did pick up to 5.8% or US16.5 billion.