India's Tourism Sector Poised to Reach ₹42 Lakh Crore by 2035, Driven by Surge in Domestic Travelers: Report

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): The contribution of India's travel and tourism sector to the country's economy is expected to increase to Rs 42 lakh crore by 2035. This information was given in the report of the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

The report said the country needs to invest more in infrastructure and destination marketing to remain competitive and sustain the sector’s growth momentum.

According to the report, “In 2024, the expenditure by international travellers in the country was an all-time high of Rs 3.1 lakh crore, surpassing the pre-Covid level. During this period, domestic travellers spent around Rs 15.5 lakh crore, which is 22 per cent more than in 2019.

Additionally, WTTC stated that the number of jobs in India's travel and tourism sector is expected to grow to 64 million by 2035 from the current level of 46.5 million.

Recently, at the CII 'Annual Business Summit 2025' in the national capital, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the tourism sector contributes 10 percent to the global economy and I am sure that under the global parameters, our tourism sector will also contribute 10 percent to the country's GDP by 2030. We are working fast on this vision.

He said, “Infrastructure creation was the first need to promote India's tourism sector and to increase the country's potential at the global level. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, roads, expressways and 1.5 lakh kilometers of highways were built in the country, new modern railway infrastructure was created. New airports were built.”

He further said, “However, there is still a lot of work to be done. The number of flights needs to be increased. 3,000 aircraft are going to arrive in the future. The increasing number of aircraft is an indication that the world's view of India is changing.”