Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has said that the tourism sector will emerge as the largest contributor to India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the coming years. Speaking at the Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025 in Delhi on March 26, Shekhawat encouraged stakeholders in the tourism industry to ensure its massive expansion.
In an official statement, Shekhawat said that the tourism sector is India's growth engine, and with the economy increasing at a fast pace, the country’s tourism sector has immense potential to advance at a parallel speed. However, he also underlined the challenges posed by climate breakdown, saying that it required immediate intervention.
According to the Ministry of Tourism’s annual report 2024-25, the estimated share of tourism jobs in India during 2022-23 was 12.57 per cent, with the sector contributing five per cent to India’s GDP in that year.
One of the key discussions at the summit, which was attended by high-ranking dignitaries and industry leaders, was the role of sustainability and artificial intelligence (AI). Suman Billa, the Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism, said that AI can contribute to the growth of the tourism sector since a large number of tourists use application-based platforms to organise their travel. He added that India aspires to become the third largest country in the world in terms of its tourism sector by 2047.
“Are we going to grow bigger or are we growing to grow better? This is the challenge,” he said. “Whether we are growing to grow better and make it sustainable is the challenge. If the tourism sector is left unmanaged, it may lead to cultural dilution. We have to make tourism empower our cultural heritage. This industry can support local crafts in a big manner and it can lead to transformation and change.”
Billa further underlined the use of local materials and the selling of products made by local people as important aspects of sustainable tourism. “When we grant sanctions to projects, we see if it has sustainability in terms of jobs, ensures livelihood, and how we engage communities in the growth of the tourism sector,” he said. “Many a time, the community is left as a bystander. To the contrary, we must ensure that the local community is a stakeholder in the industry. Our community should be taken into account, and we should encourage homestays with local communities to strengthen this sector.”
Hemant Jain, the president of the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), said hotels and restaurants had to be sustainable if they hoped to capitalise on the large numbers of tourists visiting the country from the United Kingdom and the United States of America. “Now we should focus upon strengthening the tourism sector on a sustainable model and look forward towards states like Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh to get their sustainable models that are already working there,” he said.
K Syama Raju, the president of The Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), which organised the event, said India’s abundance of natural resources could be converted into attractive tourism destinations. This was backed up by the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism in Madhya Pradesh, Sheo Shankar Shukla. He said the state's 14 UNSESCO-approved World Heritage Sites, forest cover of up to 25 per cent, 12 national parks, two jyotirlingas in Ujjain and Onmkareshwar, as well as the Narmada River’s dams, had all contributed to a huge surge in tourism, with “footfall going through the roof.”
Shukla further said that the Madhya Pradesh government was encouraging rural tourism and tribal tourism thanks to convenient homestay facilities. “We have five cultural zones that have seven tribes and 45 sub-tribes,” he said. “The state government is showcasing the rural life of the state as the best destination and has carved out tourism villages in Madhya Pradesh. At least 50 new destinations are being added. The MP government is also encouraging cruise tourism to ensure that the footfall is diversified at several attractive locations.”
(With inputs from a press release)
