India’s Travel Sector Has Recovered, But International Is Still a Pain Point
Photo Credit: According to the WTTC report, the tourism industry in India will be ahead of 2019 by the end of 2024. Pexels / Godson Bright
Skift Take
India is cementing its position as a significant source market for travel across the world. However, on its own turf, all is not well.
India’s travel and tourism sector has recovered significantly, according to a new report from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), but international travel spend in India continues to remain below pre-Covid levels.
The WTTC report revealed:
The travel and tourism sector’s contribution to Indian GDP stood at INR 19.13 trillion ($230 billion) in 2023, nearly 10% increase over 2019 levels. Employment in the industry increased 8% to 43 million. Domestic tourist spending was INR 14.64 trillion ($175 billion) last year, up 15% from pre-Covid levels. International visitor spending was over 14% behind the 2019 levels. Key Role of Domestic TourismConsulting firm McKinsey and Company had earlier projected that India will become the fourth-largest domestic travel market in terms of spending by 2030.
Online travel agency EaseMyTrip co-founder Rikant Pittie agreed with the WTTC rep
