Tourism & Hospitality To Add 61L New Jobs

New Delhi: The Tourism and hospitality sector is expected to add 61 lakh new jobs in India by 2034, according to a report on Wednesday.

The whitepaper released by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and EY at the 18th Annual CII Tourism Summit, showed that despite setbacks from the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector is witnessing a strong resurgence, fuelled by domestic tourism.

Currently, the sector contributes to about 8 per cent of India’s total employment.

The report noted that “by 2034, spending in this sector is projected to rise by 1.2 times, driving the need for an additional 61 lakh workers. This will comprise 46 lakh males and 15 lakh females -- highlighting the sector’s pivotal role in gender inclusion and workforce expansion”.

To meet this rising demand, the CII-EY report stressed the need for specialised skills in digital marketing, sustainable tourism, and customer service.

It recommended developing gamified learning management systems (LMS) for continuous professional development; collaborating with industry associations to create clear career advance-ment pathways; and establishing a dedicated task force under the Ministry of Tourism to standardise skills and education.

The whitepaper also “underscores the importance of incentivising workforce participation, particularly among women, while harnessing opportunities like medical tourism.