Travel & Tourism Get Their Mojo Back

The G20 Summit in New Delhi acquired many feathers in its hat, like the inclusion of the African Union into the grouping, the India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor, a global biofuels alliance, and most of all, the unanimous adoption of a joint declaration that once again demonstrated India’s rising stature on the global stage. There were some less conspicuous fallouts too, like a sudden and massive acceleration in travel and tourism services after a long pall since the onset of the pandemic. The Delhi Declaration, incidentally, adopted the Goa Roadmap for Tourism that focuses on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

The Union Ministry of Tourism designated 2023 as the 'Visit India' year. Interacting with around 3,000 ground-level functionaries of the G20 Summit at the conch-shaped international exhibition and convention centre at Pragati Maidan ‒ the Bharat Mandapam ‒ on 23 September, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "This is a time to take tourism to new heights." Prime Minister Modi said that the lakh key decision-makers who visited India during the summit had returned as tourism ambassadors of India. "The seed of this ambassadorship was planted by the good work of the ground-level functionaries," he said.

Tourism was as a matter of fact, among the key sectors in focus during India’s G20 presidency. Four tourism working groups were set up to promote and develop inclusive tourism. Five interconnected priorities were identified and endorsed by the G20 Tourism Working Group, namely green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management. As Vinay Gupta, Director of Operations at ibis & ibis Styles India, points out, "This structural change will bring many more events to India from around the world."

In a recent report, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) 2022 said the contribution of India's travel and tourism sector to India's economy was to the tune of Rs 15.7 trillion and it would touch Rs 16.5 trillion by the end of 2023. "This event has had a transformative impact on India's tourism industry, evidenced by a 166 per cent surge in inbound travel during the first four months of 2023 when compared to the same period in 2022," points out Nishant Pitti, CEO and Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip.

*Investment Boom
According to a report jointly produced by UNWTO and fDi Intelligence, both FDI project numbers and job creation rates in the tourism cluster grew by 23 per cent from 286 investments in 2021 to 352 in 2022. Job creation through FDI in tourism also increased by 23 per cent over the same period, reaching an estimated workforce of 36,400 in 2022. The hotel and tourism sector accounted for almost two-thirds of all projects in the tourism cluster between 2018 and 2022, with FDI projects increasing by 25 per cent from 2021 to 2022.

Addressing the G20 Tourism Meet in Goa, G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister, Tourism and Culture and Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER) had said that tourism had emerged as one of the fastest-growing economic sectors. He described tourism as a major source of employment, trade, investment, infrastructure development and social inclusion. "A sound Public Private Partnership will help ensure that sustainability and inclusion are at the heart of investment decisions and future growth," he said,

*The Revival
During the G20 summit, bookings and footfall at Indian hotels shot up, accompanied by a significant surge in hotel room pricing. All the four and five-star hotels in the national capital were fully booked. The hotel industry is expected to be doing big business through the year, as related events take place across the country.  Says Tarun Tahiliani, India Country Manager at KAYAK, "During the summit, we observed a 51 per cent year-on-year increase in average hotel prices, with the average price being Rs 11,252.  Hotel searches increased by around 20 per cent compared to last year. And it is expected to be the same for the entire 2023.”

*Job Creation
At the Goa meet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised tourism's potential for employment generation, social inclusion, and economic progress through collaborative efforts among states and the working groups addressing sustainable and inclusive tourism.

Tourism employs more women and youth than most other sectors and provides livelihood opportunities to disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. Union minister G. KishanReddy added that tourism should become an investment magnet for both the private and public sectors, emphasising the need to innovate, explore new areas, and craft new strategies to not only regain pre-pandemic levels but to surpass it.

Supporting the concept of upskilling the professional workforce through technical programmes, Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary-General, stated in a report that "By upskilling the professional workforce through technical programme, we can equip young people, of whom only 50 per cent have completed secondary education, with the knowledge and capabilities they need to thrive in the sector."

Culinary Skills
Last, but not the least significant fallout of the G20 summit in India was the tremendous platform the event provided the country’s chefs. Over 60 chefs were involved in preparing a range of dishes for the G-20 Summit, to be able to serve 170 dishes each day.  Debasish Muduli, General Manager, The Fern Sardar Sarovar Resort Kevadiya, says, “we prepare regional favourites like pindi chole, chicken Kolhapuri, chicken Chettinad and many vegetarian cuisines. We've also been mindful of the spice tolerance of the delegates and have a variety of international dishes available. The focus, however, remains on millets, with dedicated millet-based menus designed to celebrate the International Year of Millets”.

The G20 Summit and the global congregation it brought to India, was that flicker of hope that the tourism industry needed to kickstart a revival and the year-long events were that flame of the ceremonial lamp that have now lit up a path for it.

poonam@businessworld.in