PUNE: The Indian tourism sector is showing signs of revival after two years of Covid-induced challenges, the Economic Survey 2023, which was tabled in Parliament on Tuesday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said.
Foreign tourist arrivals in FY23 grew month-on-month with the resumption of international flights and the easing of Covid-19 regulations.
The post-pandemic scenario of global tourism is gradually converging to the pre-pandemic one. With travel restrictions and health concerns subsiding, tourism has become a vital driver of a strong upswing in contact-intensive activity, the survey pointed out.
It cited the World Tourism Barometer of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (November 2022), which said that international tourism showed robust performance in the January-September 2022 period.
International tourist arrivals reached 63 per cent of the pre-pandemic level in the first nine months of 2022, boosted by strong pent-up demand, improved confidence levels and the lifting of restrictions.
The pace of recovery would have been even stronger but for the lingering global uncertainties and higher inflation in advanced nations, the survey said.
The tourism sector is showing signs of revival with the waning of the pandemic, the survey said.
Foreign tourist arrivals in India in FY23 have been growing month-on-month with the resumption of scheduled international flights and the easing of Covid-19 regulations, the survey said. However, the arrivals are below the pre-pandemic level.
Profitability ratios of the tourism industry further point towards a strong rebound in the June 2022 quarter. In addition, with the resumption of corporate travel and flexible work arrangements, the rebound in MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conference, Exhibitions) tourism and leisure travel is re-gaining popularity in India. With infrastructure amenities constantly improving, India is increasingly the preferred destination for MICE events, the survey said.
It said India is ranked 10th out of the top 46 countries in the world in the Medical Tourism Index FY21 released by the Medical Tourism Association.
The way India has handled the Covid situation and also prepared itself for future shocks, trust in India’s medical infrastructure has improved. This will give a big push to Medical Value Tourism (MVT) which is expected to grow to US$ 13 billion by 2022, the survey said.
