The Indian tourism market is fast-growing with immense potential due to the country’s rich cultural and geographical diversity. It is one of the major sectors contributing to GDP of the country and is driven by steady economic growth. Tourism’s direct contribution to GDP is expected to grow from $98 billion in 2018 to $106.9 billion in 2019. The Travel services and Hotel segments are expected to drive growth of the industry in 2019, growing at a rate of 12% and 13.2%.

India has been promoting tourism under the Incredible India 2.0 campaign and has been conducting road shows and other marketing campaigns, while the states have also been promoting tourism state-wise under separate campaigns similar to the Incredible India campaign. Also, due to the continuous growth in number of tourists from both domestic and international markets, and an increasing demand for unique experiences by different tourist segments, especially millennial tourists, the industry is seeing a shift from destination-based tourism to experience-based tourism and development of niche tourism products and services for tourists.

A few key tourism offerings that majorly attract tourists to India are medical tourism, business tourism, adventure tourism, spiritual tourism, heritage tourism, cultural tourism, eco tourism and rural tourism. This has been possible due to India’s diverse geography and cultural heritage. Amongst the states, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh have been attracting a large number of tourists compared to the other states.

The Government also plans to develop tourism infrastructure across the country to provide a better tourism experience for tourists. Schemes such as Swadesh Darshan, PRASHAD, and Adopt a Heritage are expected to gain momentum and boost overall tourism growth. In order to project India as a 365- day tourist destination globally, the Ministry of Tourism is exploring newer destinations and also actively promoting under-developed tourism destinations through development of infrastructure and better connectivity. This is expected to create growth opportunities for different stakeholders such as hotels, restaurants, tour operators, etc.

Increasing Foreign Tourist Arrivals and domestic tourists, rise in household incomes, fast-growing internet and smartphone penetration are some factors that encourage growth of the industry. Tourists are likely to demand more personalization and customization, especially in the case of millennials. This is expected to increase the tourism industry’s reliance on technology start-ups and emerging technologies such as the AR, VR, Artificial Intelligence, and IoT which will eventually disrupt the tourism landscape.