The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed positive signs of recovery for the Indian Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to its major cities. The report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analysed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment, and traveller spending.
The analysis of key indicators in Delhi and Mumbai shows that Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to both cities’ GDP, jobs, and visitor spending are all bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels. The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the city’s Travel & Tourism sector contributed almost ₹36,200 crores to Delhi’s economy and more than ₹25,000 crores to Mumbai’s. But the pandemic then had a damaging effect on India’s national economy as the border closed to overseas visitors.
In 2020, both city’s Travel & Tourism GDP contributions dropped by almost half, falling to ₹19,000 crores in Delhi, and more than ₹13,500 crores in Mumbai. Over the last two years, since the border reopened, both cities have witnessed a significant recovery.
In 2022, Delhi’s sector is expected to have grown to ₹32,400 crores, while Mumbai’s Travel & Tourism sector is forecast to be worth just under ₹22,500 crore, just 10% below 2019 levels.
In 2019 there were more than 10 lakh people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Delhi. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 6.6 lacks (-35%). But in 2021, employment grew by more than 12% and is expected to have grown at a similar rate in 2022 to reach more than 8.4 lacks in 2022.
In Mumbai before the pandemic, there were almost 3.6 lakh Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by over 1 lakh to just over 2.4 lacks in 2020. An 11% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to almost 2.7 lacks. WTTC is forecasting a similar growth in 2022 to reach more than 3 lakh jobs – just 15% below pre-pandemic levels.
Julia Simpson, WTTC President & CEO, said: “India is an increasingly popular global tourist destination, and following more than two years of disruption, it’s great to see tourists are heading to the country once again.
“Our recent Economic Impact Research showed that we expect India to overtake Germany to become the world’s third most powerful Travel & Tourism market by 2032 and that its sector will outpace the overall economy every year for the next decade.
“But it’s crucial that the government and local decision-makers in individual cities continue to recognise the economic importance of Travel & Tourism for the local and national economies, jobs, and businesses.”
The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities’ will more than double over the next decade. According to the WTTC forecast, Delhi’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute almost ₹80,000crore, while Mumbai’s will provide an annual boost of more than ₹54,000 crores by 2032.
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