Tourism in India is expanding every year.

According to the estimates

of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the projected figures for
the foreign tourist visiting India during the year 2010 will increase to
10 millions. India is one of the most prospective markets for tourism in
the world. There are so many India travel packages offered by India
Tourism for foreigners all over India.In addition many private
operators also offer many package deals. Tourists can travel to the
places of historical and religious importance, explore cultural heritage,
natural beauty and enjoy many outdoor sports activities like skiing in
snow or mountaineering etc., in natural settings. The local state
departments of tourism in India and many private organizations also
offer several India travel packages package to places worth visiting.

India is a charming place for its various destinations with numerous

captivating natural scenes and culture. Latest trends of tourism in
India show India as fast emerging and highly ranked tourist place of
South East Asia.

There has been a tremendous growth in tourism in India because of

the policies of the government and support from all levels. There are
recently many events that have taken place or coming up in the
futures, which are a big catalyst for prompting tourism in India. The
international sports events like 20/20 IPL Cricket matches, upcoming
Commonwealth Games are also helping the tourism industry in India
and it will prosper to great heights and standards in the near future.

The remarkable growth in Indian Tourism market, which has identically

benefited many support industries like aviation, transport, medical
tourism, hotel and sports. The year 2008 had witnessed an enormous
increase in the eco tourism in India In addition the government has
come up with a new idea of India tourism named as "Rural Tourism",
which is very successful in promoting tourism by offering exclusive
India travel packages for rural tourism.

Tourism is not the same as travel. Tourism can be measured by three

different criteria’s

• It requires a displacement outside the known environment.

• The purpose for travel: The reason for travel must be any
reason other than remuneration from the place visited.
• Duration: The duration of stay can be a minimum of one day
with or without an overnight stay, but there is a cap on the maximum
time period, usually it should not be more than a year.
Tourism in India
Tourism in India has seen exponential growth in the recent years.
India is one of the most preferred destinations for both overseas and
domestic travelers. Tourism enables the international traveler to
understand and experience India's cultural diversity first hand.
According to official estimates the Indian tourism industry has out
performed the global tourism industry in terms of growth in the
volume of foreign tourists as well as in terms of revenue.

The main reason for the growth in tourism in India is the tremendous
progress made by the Indian economy. Though it must be said that
infrastructure is still a constraint. To sustain the current growth the
government should invest in infrastructure like transport,
accommodation, better roads, health and hygiene etc. To propel
growth the industry has invested in new technology like CRM tools and
state of the art security systems.

The various segments within tourism are:

Medical Tourism
It is one of the fastest growing segments in India. India has been able
to leverage on certain advantages it has over other countries like
highly skilled doctors, cost effective treatment, improved quality of
private healthcare etc. Some of the common treatments for which
overseas patients to come to India are heart surgery, knee transplant,
cosmetic surgery and dental care. India's traditional rejuvenation
therapy like yoga and ayurvedic therapy are also becoming popular.

Eco Tourism
It is relatively new segment in India. It involves visiting natural areas
without disturbing the fragile ecosystem. Eco tourism generates wealth
for the local people, who in turn take measures to conserve and
protect the environment and natural resources. India with its natural
diversity is one of the pristine places in the world for eco tourism. The
Himalayan region, Kerala, Northeast, Andaman and Nicobar Islands
and Lakshadweep islands the Western and Eastern Ghats are some of
the hot spots for eco tourism in India. India has some of the best
wildlife reserves in the world, rich in flora and fauna.

Heritage Tourism
Heritage tourism is a very lucrative segment in India. It is widely
believed it would emerge as the most important segment within
tourism in terms of revenue generation by 2010.India has a rich
cultural history and reflection of its glorious past is still visible in its
numerous forts, monuments, palaces, places of worship etc. Heritage
tourism itself can be further classified as colonial heritage, urban
renewal, religious tourism, industrial heritage and ethnicity. The Indian
government must show keen interest in preserving the heritage sites
from a tourism perspective.

Adventure Tourism
India's varied geographical and climatic conditions offer excellent
opportunity for adventure sports. In recent times the popularity of
adventure tourism has increased. Adventure sports like river rafting,
rock climbing, mountaineering, trekking, skiing, snow climbing, scuba
diving and angling can be undertaken in the country and the country
offers multiple locations to choose from. The trans Himalayan region,
the Garhwal and Kumaon mountains, the Western Ghats, deserts of
Rajasthan, Andaman and Lakshadweep islands are some of the most
popular destination for adventure tourism.

India had hosted Asian Games long back that had brought many
developments in India and, upgraded the quality of tourism in India
and attracted many tourists to India from all over the world. Common
Wealth Games 2010, being organized in Delhi, capital of India, will
give a pioneer opportunity to tourism in India. The industry can gain a
lot of business by coming up with various travel packages for
attraction and benefit of tourists. In 2010, it a estimated that over 3.5
million tourist will be visiting India to witness the Common wealth
Games scheduled in Oct 2010 at Delhi. It is the very important event
and Indian tourism industry has to plan, organize and cater to the
needs of such a big rush of foreign tourists that will depend on the
fights, transport, hotel bookings and for their travel itineraries, visas
and other facilities. Many agencies are preparing to handle this tourist
rush so that visitors and players feel it homely, comfortably and safe.

There are indications that the growth of tourism in India will be very
steep in the next couple of years. The Indian share of tourist will
augment about 1.5 % in 2010. India tourism industry is going to earn
maximum business from tourist visiting Agra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerela,
Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan where maximum numbers of tourists are
expected.

n other words, every man, woman and child could become richer by Rs
7,000. India has yet to realise its full potential from tourism. The
Travel and Tourism industry holds tremendous potential for India's
economy. It can provide impetus to other industries, create millions of
new jobs and generate enough wealth to help pay off the international
debt. That is why we have included Tourism amongst the Core Sectors
of the Indian Economy.

Incredible India !!

India is probably the only country that offers various categories of

tourism. These include history tourism, adventure tourism, medical
tourism (ayurveda and other forms of Indian medications), spiritual
tourism, beach tourism (India has the longest coastline in the East)
etc.

Explore India - choose the locales of your choice, and see what each
state has to offer. Lose yourself in the wonder that is India. Meander
through lands steeped in chivalry and pageantry that begin before
recorded history. Explore modern cities that have grown organically
from the roots of a multi-hued past. Make a pilgrimage to holy shrines
that echo with tales of antiquity. Frolic on a vast array of golden
beaches that dot an enviable coastline, washed by two seas and an
ocean. Sport with adventure in style. Let the jungle lure you to a
fascinating world at a diverse array of wildlife sanctuaries and national
parks....... this is the wonder that is India.

India on the World Map

The Indian tourism industry has not had it so good since the early
1990s. Though the India economy had slowed, it was still growing
faster than the rest of the world. In 2009, the country is seen rising
6.5 percent, compared to the world output, which is seen falling 0.4
percent.With Indian economy growing at around 7% per annum and
rise in disposable incomes of Indians, an increasing number of people
are going on holiday trips within the country and abroad resulting in
the tourism industry growing wings.

It is fast turning into a volume game where an ever-burgeoning

number of participants are pushing up revenues of industry players
(hotels, tour operators, airlines, shipping lines, etc). Thus, the tourism
sector is expected to perform very well in future and the industry
offers an interesting investment opportunity for long-term investors.

The Indian tourism sector is seen generating $42.8 billion by 2017, a

42 percent surge from 2007, according to an industry research note by
auditing and consulting firm Deloitte Touche.Despite the challenges
being faced in terms of a slowing economy, sluggish demand and
security concerns, the country was fighting back and tourism
developments were taking place, it said."Although there will inevitably
be some short- to medium-term set backs, the long-term outlook
remains positive," it said."Despite the deepening world economic
crisis, India's economy remains in decent shape and is still
experiencing some of the strongest growth rates in the world," the
Deloitte report said.

Despite the numerous problems, tourism industry was the second-

largest foreign exchange earner for India. Realising the potential in
India, international and domestic hotel chains were rushing to cash in
on it.

According to the global authority for hotel real estate, Lodging

Econometrics, there were 73,793 hotel rooms in the pipeline of which
11,207 were due to open in 2009 and 22,522 in 2010, it said.

International tourists account for a little over 5 million visitors, while

domestic market is seen at more than 500 million.Limited
infrastructure pose a constraint to the free flow of tourists, but the
Indian government is addressing the issue through upgradation of
existing airports and building new ones.

Medical tourism was poised for rapid development in the future and
India is busy developing first-class facilities to attract this multi-billion
dollar niche market.The government has already relaxed the criteria to
receive a visa for medical tourism.

It is also considering other incentives such as offering air travel and

accommodation for foreign tourists who visit India for the third time. It
may also pick up the bill for tour operators promoting domestic and
medical tourism and is mulling income tax exemption for hoteliers if
they invest 50 percent of profits into infrastructure.

Tourist arrivals in the country slowed throughout 2008, after rising 13

percent year-on-year from 2005-2007, due to a slowdown in the main
source markets for India, the U.S. and U.K., which account for more
than 15 percent of all inbound tourists.

India : An Idea who’s time has come

Conde Nast ranked her amongst the top 10 tourist destinations. JBIC
ranked her as the fifth most attractive investment destination. The
World Social Forum, AdAsia, World Bamboo Congress, Commonwealth
Games, Laureus World Sports Academy Global Submit, F1 alongwith
some of the biggest expos and conferences of the world chose her to
play host.

Presenting India to you Readers. The subcontinent to whose splendor,

diversity and world-class facilities the world has finally woken up to.
Away from threats, untouched by SARS and politically stable India is
the flavor of the season. Take a fresh look at her flourishing economy
(double digit growth in third quarter of 2003- 2004), geographically
strategic location, faith fortified by major software firms to make it a
global backup hub for software, the staggering figure of over 366
national/international level expos and about 100 congress already
scheduled for leap year 2004 (of which over 50 in January alone), her
forex reserves, her rising Sensex, rapidly growing consumer markets,
presence of world's finest and choicest brands and the exceptional
growth in interest from FIIs, to understand why India offers a feel
good factor. Truly, India is one of the most exciting emerging markets
in the world.

Percentage Changes in foreign

tourists arrival
2002/ 2003/ 2004/ 2005/ 2006/ 2007/ 2008/0
01 02 03 04 05 06 7
January -19.6 22.0 23.0 14.5 19.0 15.8 9.9
February -13.3 13.1 26.3 17.3 18.7 13.6 12.4
March -9.4 1.6 34.2 25.2 11.1 13.6 14.8
April -16.2 5.0 39.1 16.5 24.5 8.0 10.7
May -12.0 0.2 31.1 23.8 13.1 5.0 8.6
June -19.0 27.5 26.5 16.0 12.7 11.4 11.1
July -16.9 22.5 20.9 7.3 9.6 11.9 -
August -17.8 26.91 23.6 6.9 11.1 18.3 -
Septemb
-6.5 26.11 18.5 11.4 15.8 9.4 -
er
October 16.8 22.11 18.0 7.0 12.5 12.6 -
Novemb
16.2 19.40 32.6 7.8 4.4 15.5 -
er
Decemb
- - 30.8 11.0 13.0 6.2 -
er
Total 9.2 13.1 26.8 13.2 13.5 11.9 11.5

International Tourists Arrivals to

India
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
Arrivals
from
Region/
Country
USA 329147 348182 410803 526120 611165 696739
UK 405472 387846 430917 555907 651803 734240
Canada 88600 93598 107671 135884 157643 176567
Germany 80011 64891 76868 116679 120243 156808
France 102434 78194 97654 131824 152258 175345
Australia 52691 50743 58730 81608 96258 109867
Italy 41351 37136 46908 65561 67642 79978
Japan 80634 59709 77996 96851 103082 119292
Malaysia 57869 63748 70750 84390 96276 107286
Singapore 42824 44306 48368 60710 68666 82574
Nepal 41135 37136 42771 51534 77024 91552
Sri Lanka 112813 108008 109098 128711 136400 154813
Netherlans 42368 31669 40565 51211 52755 58611
China 13901 15422 21152 34100 44897 62330
South
27150 29374 35584 47835 49895 705407
Korea

Source- Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India

Facts to know
Tourists inflow from Australia
In the last three years the tourist arrivals from Australia to India have
almost doubled to a record figure of 1,00,000. However India aims to
double tourist inflow from Australia to two lakh in the next three years.

Tourists inflow from Britain

Every year about 3000,000 tourists from Britain visit India for both
business as well as leisure.

Tourists to India spend more..

Tourists to India spent $ 372 on their visa cards in the year of 2005.
This is a 25% rise from the year 2004 thereby, making India the
fastest growing Asia -Pacific market for the International tourist
spending. According to the World Travel and Tourism Council , the
Indian tourism demand will grow at an annual 8.8 % over the next ten
years, fueled by higher incomes and lower air fares.

Earnings on Tourism
In 2005 India earned US $ 6.9 billion from inbound foreign tourists,
which is more than twice the US $3.1 billion earned during the year
2002. According to the latest balance of payments figures released by
the Reserve Bank Of India, 2005 was the year of fastest growth in
forex inflows from foreign travel, during which inflows went up 36 %.

Leading Tourist destination

With nearly 140 three and two star hotels, Kerala has turned into a
major hot spot for foreign tourists. However Tamil Nadu hold the
second position in attracting foreign tourists.

Mode of transport
Air continued to be the predominant mode of travel for the tourists
coming to India. However arrivals by sea were negligible.

Age- Group factor

An average foreign tourist is between age group of 20-40 years.

Best time for tourists arrivals

October to February is considered to be the peak season for travel by
foreigners for business as well as leisure purposes.

Employment generated by tourism in India

Tourism Industry provides employment to about 2 crores of people in
India.