Tourism can be defined as travelling for recreational, business or leisure purposes. The 2oth century has witnessed the emergence of tourism as one of the largest global industries. There is an acceptance that the growth witnessed within the industry will continue into the 21st century. With its rich cultural and religious heritage, as well as its natural attractions,India has the potential of becoming one of the most popular destination centers for tourism.
The industry makes a contribution of 6.23 percent to GDP and only employs about 8.78 percent of India working population. It has been claimed that visitors to India usually number about 5 million per annum whilst the latest figures shows that tourism contributed approximately $100 billion to India’s GDP in 2008. It has been projected by the World Tourism Council that tourism would contribute approximately $275 billion to India’s economy by 2018, if it sustains an annual growth rate of 9.4 percent. However despite the potential for growth; the tourism industry in India is relatively under-developed.
The underdevelopment of tourism in India could be attributed to the fact that India has a high level of corruption which can hinder the development of the industry. Other factors include pollution, high number of beggars on the streets, health care, local language difficulties (although India was a colony of the British Empire, English has not been adopted as the official language of India) and sanitary conditions. The fact that security in India is regarded as been very sloppy has not helped the Indian tourism industry.
As a result this project will examine the following strategic questions:-