The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has revealed positive signs of recovery for the Indian Travel & Tourism sector with travellers heading back to its major cities.

The report, sponsored by Visa and researched in partnership with Oxford Economics, analyzed key indicators such as Travel & Tourism’s contribution to GDP, employment and traveller spend.

The analysis of key indicators in Delhi and Mumbai shows that Travel & Tourism’s direct contribution to both cities’ GDP, jobs and visitor spending are all bouncing back to pre-pandemic levels.

The WTTC Cities Economic Impact Report shows that in 2019, the city’s Travel & Tourism sector contributed almost ₹36,200 crore to Delhi’s economy and more than ₹25,000 crore to Mumbai’s.

But the pandemic then had a damaging effect on India’s national economy as the border closed to overseas visitors.

In 2020, both cities Travel & Tourism’s GDP contribution dropped by almost half, falling to ₹19,000 crore in Delhi, and more than ₹13,500 crore in Mumbai.

Over the last two years, since the border reopened, both cities have witnessed a significant recovery.

In 2022, Delhi’s sector is expected to have grown to ₹32,400 crore, while Mumbai Travel & Tourism’s sector is forecast to be worth just under ₹22,500 crore, just 10% below 2019 levels.

Jobs on the rise

In 2019 there were more than 10 lakh people employed by the Travel & Tourism sector in Delhi. In 2020 this figure dropped to just over 6.6 lakh (-35%). But in 2021, employment grew by more than 12% and is expected to have grown at a similar rate in 2022 to reach more than 8.4 lakh in 2022.

In Mumbai, it’s a similar picture.

Before the pandemic, there were almost 3.6 lakh Travel & Tourism jobs, but this number fell by over 1 lakh to just over 2.4 lakh 2020. An 11% rise in 2021 saw the number increase to almost 2.7 lakh.

WTTC is forecasting a similar growth in 2022 to reach more than 3 lakh jobs – just 15% below pre-pandemic levels.

The report also shows that the sector’s contribution to both cities’ will more than double over the next decade. According to the WTTC forecast, Delhi’s Travel & Tourism sector is expected to contribute almost ₹80,000crore, while Mumbai’s will provide an annual boost of more than ₹54,000 crore by 2032.