Tourism in India contributes 6.4 % of GDP

The Travel & Tourism industry in India is almost three times bigger than the size of automotive manufacturing industry and generates more jobs than the chemical manufacturing, automotive manufacturing, communications and mining sectors added together.

This is according to new research from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) sponsored by American Express, released  at the ‘WTTC’s India Initiative Retreat’ in Bekal, Kerala, India.

The research, undertaken by Oxford Economics, shows that the sector’s direct contribution to India’s GDP is INR2 billion which is almost three times more than the contribution of automotive manufacturing.

Travel & Tourism’s total contribution – including direct, indirect and induced impacts – to GDP in India was INR6.7 billion around 6.4% of total GDP. This compares to 3.3% for automotive manufacturing, 4.5% for education and 3.7% for the mining industry.

Supporting 39 million direct, indirect and induced jobs in India, Travel & Tourism generates more jobs than the mining industry and communications services.It also highlights that Travel & Tourism is a significant source of export revenue for India.

In 2011, visitor exports totalled INR950 billion which was 12% of all service exports and 3.9% of all exports.

The study compared the effect of Travel & Tourism spending on GDP and the wider economy.

In India INR55 million (US$1 million) in Travel & Tourism spending:
– generates INR72 million (US$1.3 million) in GDP which is greater than the agriculture, automotive and chemicals industry
– generates INR10 million (US$189,000) of gross value added in agriculture
– generates INR6 million (US$109,000) in the wholesale and retail sector
– supports 407 jobs, which is more than the average of communication services (381 jobs), financial services (329 jobs), manufacturing (315 jobs) and chemicals (231 jobs).

David Scowsill, President & CEO, WTTC said: “The numbers in this study are really insightful, demonstrating that Travel & Tourism plays a leading role by creating jobs, restoring economic growth and helping to eliminate poverty. The Indian Government is doing great things in promoting the industry.

Their latest agreement to liberate visa regimes between India and Pakistan is to be applauded. Groups, individual business and leisure travellers will be able to visit more cities and enjoy an easier visa application process. We look forward to similar bi-lateral agreements with other countries to ease the visa process.”

Bill Glenn, President Global Corporate Payments and Business Travel, American Express said: “With each release of regional data from the latest WTTC research, we continue to see the value that travel can bring to GDP, job creation and other economic factors. We are pleased to sponsor this research and provide the industry with another valuable asset to use to promote the benefits of travel.”

At WTTC’s Global Summit in Tokyo in April, WTTC’s research revealed that Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to world GDP at US$2 trillion or 2.8% is more than double the GDP of automotive manufacturing and one-third larger than the global chemicals industry. Travel & Tourism generates roughly the same GDP as the global education and communications sectors, and about half that of the global banking and financial services industry.                           Source : WTTC