With the growing recognition of tourism as a source of employment and income creator in the country, improved understanding of what tourism is, its role in the economy and its relationship to other parts of the economy, is important. The Tourism Satellite Account(TSA) is a new framework recently adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission that provide an important platform for better understanding of the role of tourism in the economy. The Department of Tourism had, with this objective in mind, commissioned a study for development of the first TSA for India through National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER). An advisory Committee under the chairpersonship of Secretary (Tourism), with representatives of Central Statistical Organisation, Ministry of Statistics & PI, and Directorate General of Employment & Training, Ministry of Labor, Planning Commission and Reserve Bank of India was constituted to advise the NCAER on various aspects of the study.
After in-depth study by NCAER and deliberation by Advisory Committee and its sub-committee, the TSA report has been finalized. Major findings of the study are:
Direct contribution of tourism to the GDP for the year 2002-03 is 2.78% and when indirect effects are considered the share of tourism to GDP goes up to 5.83%.
Total direct employment in the tourism sector for the year 2002-03 in the country is 21.54 million jobs and when indirect jobs are also added, the employment figure comes to 38.6 million.
The share of tourism in total number of jobs in India comes to 8.27%.
For every 100 jobs created directly in the tourism sector in India, 80 indirect jobs are created.
Comparing the direct contribution of tourism to GDP of major tourist receiving countries in the world India’s figure of 2.8% compares fairly well with developed nations like Canada (2.4%), USA (2.2%) and Japan (2.2%). However, it is less when compared to countries like Spain (11.2%), Austrailia (4.5%), Switzerland (3.4%) and Sweden (3.2%).
The direct contribution of tourism in total employment in India is 4.6%. it is more than what has been estimated for countries like New Zealand (4.1%), USA (3.5%), Canada (3.5%) and Japan (2.9%). However, it is lower compared to Australia’s 5.4% and Switzerland’s 5.2%.
Following the TSA statistical model, the corresponding estimates for 2003-04 are as follows:
- Contribution to GDP - 5.90%
- Tourism sector’s share in employment - 8.78%
- Additional jobs created in tourism sector in 2003-04 - 3.2 million
NCJ/DT