Incredible India 2.0

The report argues that India can significantly increase its international tourism receipts and job creation by shifting from a simple marketing campaign to a holistic strategy. It identifies key gaps in safety perceptions, last-mile connectivity, and hotel capacity, while highlighting opportunities in niche markets like medical, wellness, and rural tourism. The document proposes the creation of a national Tourism Board and a state-level pilot project, specifically suggesting Karnataka, to implement public-private partnerships in destination development.

• Bain & Company estimates that increasing international arrivals to 20 million would create an upside opportunity of $19.9 billion in incremental tourism receipts and approximately 1 million additional jobs.
• India's tourism industry is heavily reliant on domestic travel, which accounts for 88% of its tourism GDP, while international tourism contributes only 12%.
• There is a significant gap in tourism service infrastructure; while India ranks 32nd in air transport and 29th in ground and port infrastructure, it ranks 110th in tourism service infrastructure.
• The report identifies several untapped niche markets, including rural and ecotourism, which could collectively contribute $25 billion and create 100,000 village-level entrepreneurs.
• The introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 1 July 2017 is viewed as potentially detrimental, with a 28% tax rate for hotels with room tariffs of $115 and above.
• India lacks a unified public-private body to represent its fragmented travel and tourism industry, leading to poor coordination between various government ministries.
• To address the skill gap in the hospitality sector, the Ministry of Tourism aims to train 5 million people by 2022, though current short-term programmes are deemed insufficient in scale.
• The report suggests Karnataka as a prospective state for a public-private pilot project due to its accessibility via Bangalore and the potential of destinations like Hampi, Gokarna, Coorg, and Kabini.

APA

World Economic Forum (2017). Incredible India 2.0. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_Paper_Incredible_India_2_0_final_.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Incredible India 2.0. 2017. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_Paper_Incredible_India_2_0_final_.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Incredible India 2.0 |date=September 2017 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_Paper_Incredible_India_2_0_final_.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2017incredible, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Incredible India 2.0}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2017}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/White_Paper_Incredible_India_2_0_final_.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }