For the development of the tourism industry, the government is serious but stay in the budget allocation

- There is an opportunity to reduce unemployment in the country by filling the gap in the tourism sector

To boost the country's tours and travel industry, apart from developing new tourist centers in the country, it has been announced by the Finance Minister while presenting the budget for the next financial year to develop a special app for tourists to get information. A proposal has also been made to set up unity malls in the capitals of the states to attract the attention of foreign tourists towards the artistry of the country. During the period of Corona, the tourism industry of most of the countries of the world came to a standstill in which India could not be left out. A special economic package was also announced earlier to take the tourism industry out of the impact of Corona. Apart from providing free tourist visas to the first five lakh tourists arriving in India after opening up the tourism sector globally, working capital loans and financial support were announced for stakeholders involved in tours and tourism sector.

During the Corona period, many countries of the world closed their borders for tourists. India also imposed regulations on international tourists. Some of the branded hotels in the country even announced that they would not be able to continue their business. Now that the whole world has come out of Corona and the borders have opened, it became necessary to speed up the development of the tourism industry.

The government intends to adopt special new approaches for the development of 50 tourist centers to be developed as per the budget proposal. It also includes apps that provide information about tourist destinations and the same. To achieve the purpose of the special initiative launched under Dekho Apna Desh slogan to create attraction towards the tourism sector, the youth will be encouraged to provide skills and take up entrepreneurship. However, the demand to provide priority sector status to the tourism industry has not been met in the budget.

The role of tourism sector in generating employment across the world including India cannot be ignored. As a diverse sector, the tourism industry has vast opportunities for skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled talent. However, due to other limitations like language and education, most of the talent in the tourism sector comes from urban areas rather than rural areas. Considering that the tourism sector is becoming a major source of revenue for the country's exchequer, the move to provide budgetary support to this sector is welcome.

Keeping in view the changing lifestyle of the youth of the country and the changing mindset towards tourism, the government is focusing on the development of the tourism sector. If the impression of this sector as an employment generation sector is to be strengthened, priority should be given to creating a talent pool in this sector not only from urban areas but also from rural areas with financial support. The contribution of tourism sector in employment growth is increasing due to the development of technology. Advances in technology have increased the demand for a technology-savvy workforce.

Globally, there is a significant presence of women in the tourism industry, while in India, less than 15 percent of the total workforce in the tourism sector is women. A survey conducted by the World Trade Organization found that in countries where the travel and tourism sector has developed, the role of women in this sector is also increasing.

The current government is giving special emphasis to the development of the country's tourism sector but the strain on infrastructure remains a major challenge, which continues to be overcome. As today's high earning youth are seen spending a certain portion of their earnings on travel, it is imperative that the government continues its efforts to encourage the youth to take up their tourism hobby within the country by developing fast and convenient transport services along with more and more tourist destinations in the country. .

India's travel and tourism industry is included in the list of fast growing industries except during the Corona period. With the growth of this industry to make it a center for employment generation, policymakers need to create a system that includes specific types of education and training that can boost tourism development. A proposal has been presented by the government in this regard in the budget for the next financial year, but there is a feeling that the government has done injustice to the tourism sector in terms of funding. There is no increase in the allocation for the tourism sector in the next financial year's budget. The allocation of Rs 2400 crore is the same as the current financial year. Apart from this, industry demands like reduction in GST rate, exemption of foreign exchange income from GST have also not been met which could be a hindrance to the development of the country's tourism industry.

According to recently released figures, the number of foreign tourists in the country has reached 75 percent of the pre-coronavirus level and is expected to cross the pre-coronavirus level by the end of 2023. In order to increase this attraction, the government of the G20 Council and the tourism sector. Stakeholders are expected to benefit.