National Hospitality Industry Survey Ranks Maharashtra at No 1

By BW Hotelier THE 2015 State Ranking Survey compiled by HVS in association with World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII), aims at analyzing the state-wise potential of Travel and Tourism in India, and assessing the relative competitiveness of different states in the country. The report assess the competitiveness of the 30 Indian states and identify the best performers from the hospitality industry's viewpoint. The report employs 12 key parameters to evaluate the different states. The Survey ranks Maharashtra No 1, stating a strong economy, good infrastructure, presence of a sizeable quantum of branded hotel rooms and a variety of demand generators to occupy these rooms. In line with these factors, Maharashtra has recorded perfect scores in four parameters’ tourist visits, GSDP per capita, effectiveness of marketing campaign and aircraft movement. Delhi slips to No 2. Its advantage lies in it being the capital, a major port of entry and exit to the country, and an important business destination. However, the state has recorded a relatively low score in terms of luxury tax on hotel rooms, which continues to be levied on published tariff. The lack of a single window portal in terms of ease of doing business has caused the state to score relatively low in that parameter, it goes on to say. Goa ranks 3rd this year, displaying similar performance as in the previous survey. Though one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, infrastructure growth has been slow in Goa. The much talked about development of the MOPA airport still remains uncertain, the report notes. Karnataka, coming in 4th, has moved up one place since the last survey. -What is worth drawing attention to is the fact that the state has risen eight places since 2009 The state has seen high tourist visitation, attracting a good mix of business and leisure travellers, thanks to it featuring destinations such as Bengaluru, Mysore, Chikmangalur, Hampi and Coorg. Nonetheless, the report believed that Karnataka's tourism potential has not yet been harnessed completely. Gujarat, falling one place since 2013, shares the 5th rank with Tamil Nadu this year. The state has achieved high scores in the ease of doing business, GSDP per capita and intangible parameters; however, it performed only moderately well across the other criteria. Tied in for 5th place, Tamil Nadu has achieved a perfect score in total number of tourist visits as in GSDP per capita. Tamil Nadu is known for its medical tourism, which generates a high number of domestic and foreign visitations. On the flip side, the state ranks amongst the bottom three in terms of state expenditure on tourism, allocating only a miniscule amount of the total state expenditure toward this sector. The State Ranking Survey, a biennial publication compiled by HVS in association with the World Travel & Tourism Council, India Initiative (WTTCII), aims at analysing the state-wise potential of Travel and Tourism in India, and assessing the relative competitiveness of different states in the country. Historically, the evaluation has been carried out for 29 states; however, the split of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 has resulted in the addition of Telangana, increasing the tally to 30 states in this edition. The Travel and Tourism industry is an integral part of the Indian economy. In 2013, the industry accounted for US$18.4 billion in foreign exchange reserves, becoming the thirdlargest foreign exchange earner in the country. In 2014, the foreign exchange earnings (FEE) from tourism recorded a growth of 9.7% over 2013, crossing the US$20 billion mark. Overall, the government has taken progressive steps for the industry in recent years with the introduction of the electronic visa scheme (e-Tourist Visa), formulation of a new tourism policy (a draft version of which was released earlier this year), creation of tourist circuits based on specific themes, and more. However, India still has several critical issues to circumnavigate in order to establish itself as a major destination for international tourism. As per the Tourism Highlights 2015 Edition report by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the total number of International Tourist Arrivals (ITA) worldwide was 1,133 million in 2014, of which the Asia Pacific region accounted for 23.2% and South Asia, in particular, captured only 1.5%; India managed to attract merely 0.67% of the world's international tourist arrivals, largely under penetrating the market. The report is authored by Manav Thadani, MRICS, Chairman, HVS Asia Pacific and Sanaya Jijina, Analyst, Consulting & Valuation, HVS. The see the complete report click here:-HVS - 2015 India State Ranking Survey