EMERGING TRENDS IN TOURISM SECTOR IN INDIA- A COMPARATIVE OUTLOOK

Tourism has emerged as a major global industry today. It is a sizable but complex service industry. In the last 50-55 years, tourism has seen rapid and continuous growth. Tourism is a key sector earning foreign exchange for Indian economy. It is working as a harbinger of 'more inclusive growth' in India by promoting other industries inside the economy through backward and forward linkages and generating employment in various sectors such as hospitality, travel, and entertainment. The significance of tourism has been recognized in both developed and developing countries. This sector has emerged as Travel Tourism and Hospitality Industry contributing considerably towards India’s GDP and expected to increase from 234.03 US billion$ in 2017 to 492.21 US billion $ in 2028. India offers geographical diversity, attractive tourist destinations, 37 world Heritage sites, 29 Cultural sites and 25 biogeographic zones. It has emerged with diverse portfolio of niche tourism products like cruise, adventure, medical, and wellness, sports, eco-tourism, film, rural and religious tourism. This sector directly supported 5% of the total employment and expected to touch the figure of 8.4 % of total employment by 2028.