India likely to see huge resurgence of business travel

Post-Covid tourism fever is rampant and tourists are travelling like there is no tomorrow. Flights and hotels are experiencing high occupancies and seat load factors and countries are wooing visitors like never before. Our smaller friendly neighbours are shining a light on tourism and alongside the recently concluded WTTC, highlighting how important it will be in the years to come. 

Saudi Arabia is hugely promoting the old Alula (an ancient Arabic oasis city located in Medina province of north-western Saudi Arabia) and the new Neom (a city being built in Tabuk province in north-western Saudi Arabia), Qatar is repositioning itself on the back of the World Cup football sporting event, Vietnam is targetting 65 million visitors and has increased flight connectivity tremendously, Mauritius and Jordan are offering Visa Free travel and Dubai is constantly reinventing itself. 

This is a very special period for India as we hold the G20 Presidency. It should certainly be our endeavour to leverage this unique position and showcase to visitors the country, its ethos, its people and its progress. India, due to its economic growth and as an attractive, alternative manufacturing hub and consuming market, is likely to see a huge resurgence of business travel. 

Luckily, our nation is endowed with some of the greatest (1) natural assets in the thousands of kilometres of coastline, the mighty Himalayas, our amazing rivers etc (2) historical assets like the Taj Mahal, Ajanta, Ellora, our palaces etc (3) wellness assets like our ashrams, yoga, meditation, massages etc (4) social assets like the multiple festivals, diverse art forms, cultural manifestations (5) human assets, our people with their warmth, their communication abilities, their culinary skills, our self-sustaining villages and a slew of other offerings for visitors, which make India a compelling proposition. On the other hand, all this ensures that we don’t have to make huge investments in attractions, like a lot of our competitor countries do. 

Thus, with minimal input investments on the soft side, like international and domestic marketing, for both leisure and corporate (including MICE) segments, within the current decade, it is very possible to take the travel and tourism output to $400 billion on an annual basis, create tens of millions of new jobs and earn more than enough foreign exchange to eliminate our current account deficit. 

Connectivity, consular visas and communication form the core of any inbound travel and tourism strategy, which is quite evident to the relevant ministries. Apart from the core, other immediate strategic actions in this regard would be: (1) universal industry status for all large and small players in every segment of this industry including airlines, hotels, rail, roads, cruises, tour operators, travel agents, online agencies, restaurants, monuments and museums (2) restructure the complex, unwieldy and untenable taxation structure which currently has multiple slabs on multiple elements in multiple ways, and make India more competitive and attractive as a travel destination (looking at exponential growth in GDP contribution and volumes of taxes collected, instead of high taxes on a small base: Laffer Curve effect); (3) intelligently make the requisite soft side investments  in skills and invitational marketing, easier visa processes, pre-cleared immigration or assisted traveller programs etc. While we persuade international travellers to come to India, our own large domestic tourism segment must also be kept in focus, to benefit local tourists and the nation as a whole. 

We, however, need to be cautious about building sustainability into our travel and tourism. The industry is responsible for between 5 per cent to 8 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, of which around two-thirds are due to transportation. 

The travel and tourism industry must figure among the top focus sectors if our nation is to attain PM Modi’s vision for India of a 5 trillion economy by 2027. 

AUTHOR BIO: Ashwini Kakkar is Chairman, Action Against Hunger India