Revitalising Indian Tourism: What Does India Need to Become a Top Tourism Destination? Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Crisis

Abstract

COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the world's economy. Only a handful of economic sectors benefited from COVID-19 (e.g. streaming and videoconferencing). Other sectors recuperated relatively well after the strongest part of the crisis passed (e.g. textile and automotive). The tourism sector, instead, will still take some time to recuperate. It is because many different parts need to be in place for tourism as we knew it before the crisis goes back to normal. In 2019, the projections were 1.5 billion international tourist arrivals per year. The comparison between Europe and India would help in developing measures to reignite and re-launch tourism in India. In fact, before the crisis, India was getting less than 20 million foreign tourists per year. The number seems relatively low when compared to countries like China (more than 60 million foreign tourists), Spain, France and the USA (all three above 80 million arrivals), Malaysia (26 million), Thailand (38) and Japan (29). This research analyses the relatively low number of international arrivals in India using a multi-perspective approach. The analysis will allow us to make a series of suggestions that will help boost the tourism sector in India as the COVID-19 crisis fades away.

Citation

Bulchand-Gidumal, J. (2022), "Revitalising Indian Tourism: What Does India Need to Become a Top Tourism Destination? Lessons Learned From the COVID-19 Crisis", Chowdhary, N., Billa, S. and Tiwari, P. (Ed.) Indian Tourism, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 231-241. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80262-937-820221017