2016 was much of euphoria for tourism industry. The<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms"> tourism ministry</a> got 70 % hike in the budget with an allocation of Rs 1,590 crore, to focus on infrastructure development and promotion and publicity initiatives. But in a knee jerk reaction to <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="modi">Modi</keyword>'s demonetization move in November last year, the industry has been left with no choice but to make losses. In the last few years, the tourism in India has witnessed a major boom. In comparison to inbound travel, India has seen a major growth in the outbound sector, thanks to the disposable income of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms">millenials</a>. Here are a few reasons, why India’s tourism hasn’t achieved much in comparison to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms">China</a>. Infrastructure While domestic<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms"> travellers</a> have quadrupled, Indian tourism didn’t see much development in its infrastructure. While roads may have become better, and a lot of online travel portals have born, what went missing is a massive blue print of infrastructure to take India’s tourism to a new high. In India there has hardly been any addition to new hotels. Compare this to China and you would be surprised to find <keyword id="1333" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="beijing">Beijing</keyword> has as many star-category hotel rooms as all of India. India till 2015 has just a little over 100,000 star rated hotel rooms, compared to Beijing’s 130,000 alone. Also lack of supply of hotel rooms has aggravated the demand thereby making the travel in India far expensive in India. The rooms that cost $400 a night in Delhi or Mumbai would cost hardly $100 dollars in most part of China. 
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 Market size Another primary reason for China’s growth in tourism market is its size. China is far larger than our country, packed with tonnes of tourist attractions. Also many foreign visitors coming to India prefer cultural and natural destinations and tend to stay away from the cities. However in China, cities are also major draws. Expenses Tax disparity in independent travel purchase is a major flaw in Indian travel ecosystem. There are just too many taxes, which makes travel expensive. Communication The quality of transportation infrastructure in China is light-years ahead of India, there's simply no comparison, according to a <keyword id="274437" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quora">Quora</keyword> post. It is far easier and more comfortable for tourists to get around China than it is for them to get around India. China's air, rail, and road networks are all faster, safer, and more modern than India's. 
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 Safety and security India has witnessed countless instances of pickpockets, burglary, sexual assaults and scams against foreign tourists. There are tourist traps as well that make the country unsafe for travellers. Visits to India by female tourists dropped 35 percent in 2015 compared with the same period a year ago, according to the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms">Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India</a>. There is very little for travellers to worry about in China. Violent crime and rape are almost unheard of. You can walk down dark city streets at night in China and have nothing to worry about. Here are the suggestions of industry experts to make tourism in India at par with China: Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com, an online travel agency and a travel search engine: “The Indian tourism industry is growing at a rapid pace, fuelled by a growing domestic middle class with increasing disposable incomes. In addition, the inbound market is growing at a steady pace as well. However, in comparison to other comparable countries, India still has a long way to go in terms of fulfilling its potential as a tourism destination. The Government has rightly identified Tourism as a pillar of growth in the economy and with improved road infrastructure, regional air connectivity and better budget accommodation, we expect that we will unlock this sector and improve our share of the global tourism market. The Chinese tourism industry &amp; OTAs have benefited from country’s economic development and we believe that India’s tourism sector and online travel market is poised for continued growth and value creation as the economy grows, following the well-established path seen in the US and China.” <keyword id="2049459" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="amitabh-misra">Amitabh Misra</keyword>, Founder of GoFro.com, an online travel marketplace for leisure travel: If we compare the global travel scenario, almost 30-40% population in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/heres-how-budget-2017-will-be-a-game-changer-intourism-industry/articleshow/56628238.cms">US and Europe</a> go for leisure travel every year, where as in China the number is around 8% and in India it’s still less than 1% of the total population, making it a market with huge growth potential. Having said that one of the major concern is increase in tax disparity in independent travel purchase viz-a-viz holiday packages; for example, the consumer has to pay the tax on flight tickets, now if its combined with a holiday package, they will also have to pay tax on the overall package as well, thus travel is getting costlier for the consumer. We are expecting the 2017 budget to adopt a lenient tax structure which further promote the tourism industry. With government working towards improving country’s infrastructure and enabling tech support at various section will also lead to faster growth of inbound tourism. Ritesh Agarwal, Founder &amp; CEO, OYO Rooms : Infrastructure development is a pre-requisite to provide the much-needed impetus for the industry’s growth. Additional incentives should be provided for infrastructure investments in the travel and tourism sector to accelerate growth. A lower tax rate for hospitality business and the lower rate of interest for real-estate development will ensure opening up of more supply for the nascent branded budget hospitality sector. This will be in line with supporting small owner-friendly policies, such as the exemption of service tax in the sub-Rs. 1000 hotel room category.”

China’s tourism is much ahead of India. Here’s why

Leading online travel agents like <keyword id="132652" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cleartrip">Cleartrip</keyword> and <keyword id="143718" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Yatra-com">Yatra.com</keyword> have claimed that the new <keyword id="6359833" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Goods-and-Services-Tax">goods and services tax</keyword> (<keyword id="6354679" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="GST">GST</keyword>), which will be rolled out from tomorrow onwards, will not have much of an impact on flights or hotel fares in the coming months. GST council has decided to tax both economy and business class fares at marginally different rates as compared to the present charges. Also, hotel tariffs for mid-market and budget segments are also not going to have a significant change. This has led to travel agents deciding to continue their discounts, sales and other incentives even after GST. "It's fairly positive for aviation and budget hotel segments. Overall, it's a mixed bag and that's good news for us. Economy class effective tax is coming to about 5% which means a marginal reduction. There is a marginal increase in business class fares from 9 to 12%. Overall, we don't see the discounting intensity coming down," <keyword id="396767" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Amit-Taneja">Amit Taneja</keyword>, chief revenue officer at Cleartrip told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/travel/no-big-impact-on-airfares-hotel-rates-travel-agents/articleshow/59377805.cms">ET</a>. "There's nothing much that will change post GST for consumers. Economy fares may go down slightly. Business class will also increase by 2-3%. Hotels should not have much of an impact on the consumer side. We do not expect the pricing aspect and promotions to get impacted much, post GST," said <keyword id="332366" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sharat-Dhall">Sharat Dhall</keyword>, COO, B2C, Yatra.com.

GST won’t have much impact on airfares or hotel rates, say travel agents

PolicyBazaar’s CEO Yashish Dahiya took home about ₹3 crore ⁠— here’s a look at other top paid execs at the fintech startup headed for IPO

<ul><li><keyword id="6357787" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="shimla">Shimla</keyword>, Mussoorie, Darjeeling facing traffic jams and <keyword id="68552" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="water-scarcity">water scarcity</keyword>.</li><li>Hotel occupancy levels growing by 9%-10%, higher than the average. </li></ul>The summer of 2019 is scorching up the country as heatwaves continue to prevail across the country. It hence comes as no surprise that Indians are heading towards hills for some respite. And, there is little to be found even there. On Sunday, tourists were stuck in a four kilometer long traffic jam on the Manali-Leh highway. Similar instances were witnessed at other vacations hotspots like Shimla, <keyword id="76016" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nainital">Nainital</keyword>, Darjeeling, Mussoorie, Ooty and <keyword id="64488" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mahabaleshwar">Mahabaleshwar</keyword>. And, traffic is not the only problem. As hill stations are overcrowded, they are facing water scarcity amongst other issues. This is an emerging new trend which <a href="https://www.indiatimes.com/lifestyle/overtourism-india-s-top-vacation-spots-are-getting-choked-as-tourists-won-t-stop-showing-up-369021.html">experts</a> call overtourism. “It is not surprising to witness traffic jams and overcrowding at these destinations. This has led to other issues like water scarcity, in most of these destinations as this year, the summer is extremely hot,” said Karan Anand, head of relationships at Cox and Kings, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/overtourism-plagues-indian-vacation-spots-this-summer/articleshow/69829919.cms">told Times of India</a>. India and India only This summer, the <keyword id="6356001" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="international">international</keyword> airfares have been extremely <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/overtourism-plagues-indian-vacation-spots-this-summer/articleshow/69829919.cms">high</a> too. This has increased the number of tourists heading to Indian locales. Priyanka Kothmire, co-founder, Frotels.com told TOI that hotels are also seeing a steep increase in occupancy levels, growing at 9%-10%. The average occupancy grows by 5% each year. Online travel portals are also buzzing with bookings. Ixigo saw a 25% jump in last minute bookings to Ladakh, Shimla, Coorg and Darjeeling. Yatra.com’s booking grew by 20%, as per Sharat Dhall, COO of B2C, Yatra.com. Price increases are following suit too. Authorities at Taj Mahal hiked entry fees five fold from ₹50 to ₹250 for Indian nationals, and ₹1,300 for foreigners. They are also cutting down on visiting hours to deal with the overcrowding.

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China’s tourism is much ahead of India. Here’s why

Suchayan Mandal

GST won’t have much impact on airfares or hotel rates, say travel agents

BI India Bureau

PolicyBazaar’s CEO Yashish Dahiya took home about ₹3 crore ⁠— here’s a look at other top paid execs at the fintech startup headed for IPO

Kritti Bhalla

Indians escaping the heat wave in the plains are running into traffic jams and water shortage in serene hill stations

BI India Bureau