How India Can Translate Its Tourism Momentum into Global Leadership

During a WTTC discussion, industry leaders and Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekhawat outlined a vision for India's global tourism leadership, focusing on seamless mobility, showcasing diverse regions, and attracting international students.

India is emerging as one of the world’s most influential Travel & Tourism markets, driven by a rapidly expanding economy, growing domestic and international demand, investment and digital innovation. A discussion held recently by the World Travel and Tourism Council explored how India could translate its scale and momentum into global tourism leadership. Hosted by Richard Quest the discussion featured Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekawat and some of the leading lights of the industry including Zubin Karkaria, Founder & CEO, VFS Global; Puneet Chhatwal, CEO, Indian Hotels Company and Gaurav Bhatnagar, Co-Founder, TBO.com.

VFS Global CEO on Unlocking India's Potential

Speaking during the discussion, Zubin Karkaria, Founder & CEO, VFS Global highlighted how more seamless, secure mobility and targeted destination outreach can help convert India’s cultural diversity, connectivity and growing global profile into stronger inbound tourism. "I've been almost three decades in the travel and tourism industry. I was running the largest travel company in India for inbound, outbound and what you call business travel. And I feel it's (India) not a one-time destination, that's first. And what the Minister said very rightly it is not the golden triangle that you will choose. India is much, much more than that. And every state has the responsibility to excite people to go to their state and give the different opportunities that are there in that state. If you want to remove friction, if you want to make it seamless and if you want more people, you need more of India to be shown," he said.

The VFS Global Founder and CEO also highlighted how VFS Global can support India’s tourism ambitions through their global footprint, government partnerships and trusted presence across key source markets.

Focus on 'Study in India'

One of the key areas that VFS Global is looking at supporting is the Study in India ambition, by connecting prospective students globally with a more integrated journey from outreach and verification to visa and pre-departure support. "One category that we are looking at which is growing now is students. There are a lot of international students for different reasons, what's happening in the world today are looking at India as a destination to go and study. And this is something that I have been speaking to our education minister over the last one year. And we may start something called study in India as a product soon, where we will encourage students from around the world who feel that they are not able to either afford or get a visa to another country where they wanted to go and study. India has got the best institutes, technical, engineering and there is a huge opportunity today for India to attract students. Once the student comes in, the parents come in, the student becomes the ambassador of the country and then his friends come in and that is another area that we should look at," Zubin Karkaria said.

Government's Vision: The '3Ts' Framework

Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekhawat highlighted Prime Minister Narendra Modi's focus on the 3Ts framework across different economic and developmental contexts, featuring Tourism alongside Trade and Technology. "First 60 years, India post-independence was confronted with providing food, clothing, shelter, jobs to the people. This last 15 years’ sectors like tourism started unlocking itself. It is the fastest growing major world economy. It has hosted G20, last month it hosted the BRICS, next month is another summit, a year ago was the AI summit. So, tourism is not only just tourists walking through the streets and going to the restaurants, it's also business tourism, it's also spiritual tourism. I think the spiritual tourism has become so strong in India, I don't think there is a comparable destination in the world. Our Prime Minister has given a clarion call with three T's. The travel and tourism, the trade and technology. These three are major areas to put thrust in. So, it is the top most priority of the government and that is why this vision has been taken up. The task is given to us to take the tourism by 2047 to 100 million," the Minister said.

Tourism as a Key Economic Driver

Tourism has emerged as one of India's key drivers of economic growth, employment and regional development. More than a travel industry, it supports a wide ecosystem of hospitality, transport, handicrafts, food services, wellness, culture and local enterprises, creating livelihood opportunities across both urban and rural India. The sector is playing an increasingly important role in strengthening local economies while showcasing India's rich cultural and natural heritage to the world. (ANI)

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