NITI Aayog outlines reforms to accelerate growth in tourism and hospitality

NITI Aayog, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, on Tuesday rolled out a roadmap for simplifying regulations, improving the ease of doing business, attracting investments and supporting sustainable growth in India's tourism and hospitality sector.

The report titled ‘Unlocking Growth in Tourism and Hospitality Sector’ was launched at a national workshop held here, in the presence of Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture; Rajiv Gauba, Member, NITI Aayog; Bhuvnesh Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism; and senior officials.

The report presents a detailed assessment of regulations affecting accommodation providers, hospitality establishments, homestays, food and beverage services, tour operators, tourism infrastructure projects and visa-related reforms. It identifies challenges related to approvals, compliance requirements, accommodation capacity and institutional coordination that affect investment and project implementation.

The recommendations focus on simplifying regulatory processes, reducing the compliance burden, improving inter-departmental coordination and enabling faster development of tourism infrastructure. The recommendations place particular emphasis on expanding accommodation capacity, strengthening homestay ecosystems, promoting tourism entrepreneurship, streamlining approval mechanisms and creating a more enabling environment for tourism investments.

The workshop brought together representatives from State Governments, industry associations, hospitality sector stakeholders, online travel platforms, academic institutions, knowledge partners and relevant Central Ministries.

Addressing the participants, Shekhawat underscored the transformative role of tourism in India's growth journey and emphasised the importance of creating an enabling ecosystem to facilitate investment, expand tourism infrastructure, strengthen accommodation capacity, and improve the ease of doing business across the sector.

Gauba highlighted the importance of unlocking the growth potential of the tourism and hospitality sector, noting its significant contribution to employment generation, entrepreneurship, and regional development. He said that the tourism investments are highly sensitive to time, cost and predictability, and therefore, it is imperative to improve ease of doing business to accelerate investments in the tourism and hospitality sector.

The day-long deliberations focused on reforms required to strengthen tourism-led economic growth and enhance India’s competitiveness as a global tourism destination. Discussions focused on identifying regulatory barriers affecting tourism enterprises and exploring pathways for coordinated reform across the Central Government, State Governments and industry stakeholders.

The workshop featured dedicated sessions on tourism investment and approval reforms, accommodation and entrepreneurship, environmental sustainability and regulatory approvals, and VISA facilitation.

The dignitaries highlighted tourism's role as a key driver of economic growth, employment generation and regional development. They underscored the need for coordinated action between the Central Government, State Governments and industry stakeholders to improve the ease of doing business, strengthen tourism infrastructure, encourage private investment and create an enabling ecosystem for tourism enterprises.

They also emphasised the importance of promoting entrepreneurship, supporting local livelihoods, strengthening community participation and advancing sustainable tourism practices across destinations.

Aligned with the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the report seeks to strengthen tourism’s contribution to economic growth, employment generation and regional development while promoting sustainable, inclusive and globally competitive tourism destinations across the country. The recommendations provide a practical roadmap for enhancing the ease of doing business, accelerating tourism investments and supporting tourism-led growth in the years ahead, an official statement said.

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