Hospitality Sector Seeks Policy Push

New Delhi: As the Indian hospitality industry prepares to uncork the champagne to welcome 2025, it is gearing up to roll out the red carpet to foreign tourists, whose arrivals are likely to cross pre-Covid levels next year, while looking to continue its significant contribution to the country’s economy and make ‘India inevitable’.

The sector, which is poised to contribute $1 trillion to India’s economy by 2047, however, is looking up to the government for policy interventions, such as unified licensing, workforce upskilling, and targeted infrastructure investments to enable the vertical meet demand generated by India’s drive towards becoming the world’s third largest global economy. “India aims to become the third-largest economy by 2047, and the hospitality sector is set to play a pivotal role in achieving this goal.

The sector’s multiplier effect on the economy surpasses that of manufacturing and agriculture,” Hotel Association of India (HAI) President KB Kachru told media. Asserting that the future of the hospitality industry looks promising, he said, “There is an expectation of higher occupancies and average room recoveries”.

Citing a report by IBEF, Kachru, who is also the Chairman of South Asia at Radisson Hotel Group, said, “India’s travel market is projected to grow from an estimated $75 billion to $125 billion by FY27.

Additionally, the total number of international tourist arrivals in India is expected to reach 30.5 million by 2028”.

A boom in domestic travel in the past couple of years has helped the hospitality industry traverse an accelerated growth path.