Context: Recently, the United Nations reported that  Global tourism lost USD 320 billion in 5 months due to the COVID 19 pandemic and more than 120 million jobs at risk.
Key Points

• Tourism is the third-largest export sector of the global economy, behind fuels and chemicals, and in 2019 it accounted for 7 percent of global trade.
• It employs one in every 10 people on Earth and provides livelihoods for millions of people.
• This has been a “major shock” for richer developed nations “but for developing countries, it is an emergency, particularly for many small islands developing states and African countries.
• Tourism for some of those countries represents more than 20% of their GDP.
• The USD 320 billion in lost exports from January through May is three times what was lost during the year 2009 at the height of the last global financial crisis.

Tourism Sector in India
Opportunities

• Tourism plays a role of significant economic multiplier and becomes critical since India has to grow at rapid rates and create jobs. Tourism is an integral pillar of the Make in India programme.
• India’s ranking in the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index (TTCI) of World Economic Forum moved from 52nd position in 2015 to 40th position in 2017. Now India has moved up by another 6 positions and ranked at 34th position in 2019.
• Tourism tends to encourage the development of multiple-use infrastructure including hotels, resorts & restaurants, transport infrastructure (aviation, roads, shipping & railways) and healthcare facilities.
• By 2028, Tourism & Hospitality is forecasted to earn $50.9 bn as visitor exports compared to $28.9 bn earned in 2018.
• By 2029, Travel & Tourism will account for nearly 53 million jobs as compared to the 43 million jobs directly in 2018 (8.1% of total employment)
• By 2030, India is expected to be among the top five business travel market.

Strength

• The country landscape possess a gracious natural beauty, and can cater to almost every type of traveller whether they are seeking adventure, wellness, culture and heritage or cuisines.
• Availability of huge labour force both skilled and un-skilled can act as catalyst due to service based nature of tourism industry.
• India’s gems and jewellery, handicrafts are quite popular among tourist. A tourist on an average spends 40% of his budget on shopping if souvenirs’ and other merchandise.
• Medical Tourism: India is emerging as most preferred destination for Medical Tourism. The availability of world-class medical facilities with top class doctors, personalized nursing care, offering specialized treatments at a cost 1/4th that of developed countries.

Weaknesses

• Sub-Optimal utilisation of tourism industry (Only 43 percent of total potential) due to lack of tourism centric infrastructure.
• As the tourism industry is closely integrated with several other industries like hotel and accommodation, aviation, railway, roadways, healthcare, entertainment etc., the combined weaknesses of all the sectors make it more vulnerable.
• Additionally, the cost of travel and accommodation in India is often higher than flying to a neighbouring country. A limited supply of hotels and excessive taxation in aviation means that an increasing number of Indians prefer to go abroad for their holidays.
• Approaches have lagged behind in marketing India as a tourist destination, actions are still focusing on mystical charm, ancient civilization, but country has a lot more to offer better than any southeast Asian nation.
• Lack of information dissemination and language creates a barrier especially for non-English speakers.
• The travel ban induced by the pandemic has adversly affected the Tourism industry.

Various Government Initiatives

• Swadesh Darshan Scheme–Ministry of Tourism (MoT) launched the Swadesh Darshan Scheme (Central Sector Scheme)– for integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits in the country in 2014-15.
• National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Heritage Augmentation Drive’ (PRASHAD) Scheme: The scheme was launched in 2015 with a focus on identifying and developing the pilgrim sites across the country to promote religious tourism.

Adopt Heritage Project: It was launched in 2017 as a collaborative effort by the Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Culture and Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), State/UTs Governments.

• It envisages the development and maintenance of tourist amenities at heritage sites and making them tourist-friendly.
• The project primarily focuses on providing basic amenities that include cleanliness, public conveniences, safe drinking water, ease of access for tourists, signages, illumination, Wi-fi etc.

‘Stranded in India’ portal–Ministry of Tourism launched  ‘Stranded in India’ portal  to help foreign tourists stuck in various parts of India.

• A special visa category called ‘Medical Visa and Medical Attendant Visa’ has been created to ease the entry of medical tourists in India.

Draft Natonal Tourism Policy 2015

• The Draft National Tourism Policy 2015 is a  successor of 2002, National Tourism Policy. The 2015 policy development process therefore sought to push the 2002 policy into a new status of focused implementation. 
• It aims to increase India’s share in world tourist arrivals from the present 0.68% to 1% by 2020 and increase to 2% by 2025.
• The Policy is based on the paradigm of “responsible and sustainable” tourism.
• Evolve a framework of government-led, private driven and community centred tourism approach.
• The policy envision National Tourism Advisory Board (NTAB) which would be chaired by the Union Minister with all the tourism ministers of the States / UTs and domain experts as members.
• Focus on developing the core infrastructure with integration approach such as Buddha Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Himalaya Circuit, Heritage Circuit etc, will be prioritized.
• The policy  is based on value addition and strict compliance on; Swagat (welcome), Soochna (Information), Suvidha (Facilitation), Suraksha (Security), Sahyog (Cooperation), Samrachana (Infrastructure Development) and Safai (Cleanliness).

Steps need to be taken in the present scenario

• The government must provide businesses with institutional access to working capital and enable liquidity through a deferment of loan repayments. 
•  Incentivising domestic travel to retain high- spending tourists and ensuring robust protocols for safety and hygiene.
• There is a need to prioritise products and destinations that would be of interest in the target market and ensure that these deliver value for money.
• India should aggressively campaign with state support to host a handful of the biggest and best global conferences and conventions to send out the message that India is safe and is back in business. 
• It is essential to measure the impact of Covid-19 and prepare a cogent strategy involving both the government and the industry stakeholders.