Amitabh Kant calls travel and tourism India’s biggest driver of jobs
The former NITI Aayog CEO says the often-neglected sector needs stronger competitiveness, logistics and last-mile infrastructure, alongside lower energy and manufacturing costs.
What happened
India travel and tourism sector · Amitabh Kant said travel and tourism is a neglected but critical job-creation sector for India, urging improvements in
Why this matters
Companies should assess partnerships and acquisitions across destination retail, logistics, mobility and tourism services as infrastructure investment expands the travel ecosystem.
What to watch
- Union and state budget allocations for tourism infrastructure, destination development and last-mile connectivity.
- New airport, rail-station redevelopment, expressway, cruise-terminal and convention-centre project approvals.
- Tourism policy changes involving hotel investment incentives, visa rules, destination subsidies or public-private partnerships.
- Domestic passenger traffic, hotel occupancy, average daily room rates and foreign tourist arrival trends.
- Major religious, cultural, sporting and MICE event calendars that can create concentrated retail demand.
- State tourism rankings and announcements of priority destination circuits.
- Map store, franchise and travel-retail whitespace within 30-90 minutes of expanding airports, railway stations, expressways, pilgrimage sites and major convention venues.
- Build destination-specific assortments combining regional food, gifts, wellness, ethnic apparel, travel essentials and locally sourced products.
- Pursue partnerships with hotels, online travel agencies, airport operators, rail concessionaires and state tourism boards for bundled offers and visitor acquisition.
- Use flexible formats such as kiosks, seasonal pop-ups, mobile units and franchise models before committing to permanent destination stores.
- Prepare multilingual signage, digital payments, tourist-friendly returns policies and demand forecasting calibrated to holiday, festival and event peaks.