Growth of Tourism Industry in India

Tourism in India is economically significant and is growing speedily. The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 gave 40th rank to India out of 136 countries overall. On the basis of price competitiveness, out of 136 countries, The report ranks India's tourism sector on 10th position. It considers that India has very well developed air transport facilities (ranked 32nd), especially considering phase of development of India, and rational rail and road transport infrastructure (ranked 29th). India also got high marks on natural and cultural resources (ranked 9th). The Ministry of Tourism drafts national policies for the promotion and progress of tourism. In the process, the Department of Tourism come in association with other stakeholders in the sector together with government of states, Many Central Ministries/agencies, Union Territories and the council of the private sector. Intensive efforts are being made to promote new forms of tourism such as rural, cruise, medical and eco-tourism. This paper includes the history of tourism industry in India and its continuous development at present. Travel was concentrated only on business and religious purpose in India but now it has taken brilliant new forms which are now being considered by international tourists from whole world. This paper has covered the present scenario of Indian tourism industry, its status in country‟s economy, major Challenges related to it as well as their remedies.