The soft power of culture and tourism

India’s culture and tourism sector is one of its most vibrant service sectors. The country’s rich culture and heritage make it one of the most interesting destinations in the world to visit. Both Indians residing in India and foreigners are interested in exploring the country, which boasts a remarkable diversity in terms of food, culture, customs and geography.

Adventure tourism is one of the most popular segments of India’s tourism industry. Owing to India’s enormous geophysical diversity, it has enjoyed substantial growth over the years. As part of India’s tourism policy, almost every state has a definite programme to identify and promote adventure tourism.

The Indian hospitality sector is highly fragmented with a large number of small and unorganised players; this increases competition. Customers’ low switching cost and price sensitivity further increase competition among players.

India is expected to move up five spots and be ranked among the top five business travel markets globally by 2030, as business travel spending in the country is expected to treble by 2030 from 30 billion USD in 2015.

Quality of manpower is important in the hospitality industry. The industry provides employment to skilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled labour directly and indirectly. At 1.6 (2008–09), the average employee-to-room ratio in India is much higher than that for hotels across the world. The ratio stands at 1.7 for five-star hotels and at 1.9 and 1.6 for the four-star and three-star categories respectively. Hotel owners in India tend to ‘over-spec’ their hotels, leading to a higher manpower requirement.