Tourism revenue in line for 20% growth

The tourism industry has seldom had it so good. Tourist arrivals, hotel occupancy and foreign exchange earnings for the sector are expected to rise 20 per cent in 2004.

While tourist arrivals are slated to hit 3.3 million, foreign exchange earnings are expected to touch $4.3 billion and average hotel occupancy for the year is projected at 65-70 per cent.

If the first month of the year is anything to go by, the projections do not look out of place. In January, tourist arrivals increased 20 per cent at 330,000 over the corresponding period last year.

Hotel occupancy at 5-star and deluxe properties in the metros shot up to nearly 90-95 per cent in December 2003 and January 2004, compared with 58 per cent for all of 2003.

"We have seen occupancy rates of above 80 per cent across all our hotels consistent in the last six months or so," said Ravi Dubey, vice-president (communications), India Hotels.

Hotels in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad, which have hosted a slew of international business meets and events, have been the biggest beneficiaries.

"India seems to be the flavour of the season, and with the economy growing at this pace, there will be more business travellers who will end up spending on leisure travel," said an industry source.

Domestic airline companies have also reported a 20-25 per cent increase in traffic over the last six months. Air Sahara, which added nearly 50 new flight services in September 2003, had 40 per cent more customers in this period, a company spokesperson said.

Jet Airways, on the other hand, holds a conservative view of the "feel-good" factor in tourism. "The second half of every year happens to be the peak season. Traffic may be marginally higher in 2003-04 season," said Saroj Dutta, executive director, Jet Airways.

In his mini-Budget in January, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh had announced duty cuts on aviation turbine fuel and reduction in service tax for the airlines, which had resulted in nearly 15 per cent reduction in domestic airfares.

In its latest ranking of tourism "hotspots" for 2004, the international travel magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, has listed India at the fifth position, up four places from its previous listing in September last year.

"The second half of 2003 was incident free and the atmosphere of peace and calm in the south Asian region helped a lot. Foreign tourist arrivals can only go up if the current geo-political situation prevails," said Shyam Suri, secretary general, Federation of Hotels and restaurants Association of India (FHRAI).

"The 'Incredible India' campaign and the duty sops announced by the government for the tourism sector in the recent past, have had a very positive impact on our businesses," said Subhash Goyal, chairman of the Delhi-based travel agency, Stic Travels.