Lemon Tree Hotels Chairman and Managing Director Patanjali Govind Keswani stated on Saturday that with the correct government backing, the tourist industry has the capacity to address 50% of the nation’s employment problems.
In his speech at the inaugural National Conclave on India 2047, hosted by IIM Calcutta, he stated that the tourism industry in India is about to reach a turning point.
Keswani noted that a number of nations have observed that the tourism industry generates between 15 and 20 percent of their GDP and 25 percent of jobs.
“In India, tourism contributes only 6.5% to GDP and a similar share in employment,” he remarked, expressing unhappiness with the government’s approach to the industry. There is a lot of room for employment creation in this industry.”
“If the government can leverage this opportunity effectively, it could address up to 50 per cent of our employment challenges,” he stated.
Speaking on the state of India’s economy now, Keswani said that the nation is in a similar position to what China was during its period of fast growth.
He pointed out that even household earnings in India are growing at a rate of 6–7% each year, which is paving the way for a big change in the habits of discretionary spending.
“India has 280 million households, but currently, only 5 million householdsless than 2 per centare active consumers of discretionary goods like SUVs and hatchbacks,” Keswani stated.
“Yet, if the economy keeps growing, this number might rise to 30 million households, which would significantly enhance economic activity. He stated, “This is exactly the kind of change that took place in China and is currently taking place in Vietnam.
Keswani listed a number of encouraging signs of India’s economic growth, such as the anticipated 1,500 new planes in the next five years, the tripling of runways, the doubling of airports, and the doubling of four-lane highways in the following four years.
“This expansion in connectivity is a tremendous opportunity for tourism in India, one that we haven’t witnessed in the last 75 years,” he stated.