Travel And Tourism Industry In India

India has significant potential become a preferred tourist destination globally. Its rich and diverse cultural heritage, abundant natural resources and biodiversity provides numerous tourist attractions. The total tourist visits in India have been growing at a steady rate of about 16 per cent over the past five years. The travel and tourism sector in India provides significant socio economic benefits. While the direct contribution to GDP is estimated at Rs. 2222 billion in 2013, the total contribution is estimated at Rs. 7416 billion in the same year. These have further been forecasted to rise at a growth rate of 12 per cent over the next decade. While the sector supported 25 million direct and 40 million total jobs in 2012, these have

The country has an extensive network of railways covering multitude of tourist destinations. It runs train services all over the country which cater to different type of travellers. Railway is a very important driver of tourism in any country and even more so one as large as India with weak road & hotel infrastructure. Being the tourism arm of Indian Railways IRCTC makes an important contribution to overall growth of tourism in the country. It is also focusing on providing value for money services to middle end domestic customers by its range of tour

In the global context, the sector has witnessed booming growth in the past decades or two especially after the opening of the economy. Besides India with its rich historical past and varied geographical locations like hill stations and beaches has always been a very attractive tourist destination. Efforts by the Govt. to promote India as a prime tourist destination in the world is paying dividends and there has been a definite increase in the volume of the international tourist visiting the country.

INDIAN RAILWAY CATERING AND TOURISM CORPORATION LIMITED (IRCTC):

IRCTC was incorporated on 27th September 1999 as a limited company registered under the Companies Act 1956 to professionalize and manage catering and hospitality services and to promote domestic and international tourism through development of hotels, information and commercial publicity and global reservation systems; and to explore and exploit underutilized assets of Indian Railway and stimulate private entrepreneurship and investment in the hospitality business; and serve the rail users and passengers through value added services.

Functions of