CHENNAI: India’s tourism sector needs to rapidly expand supply to keep pace with booming domestic demand, as travellers are increasingly comparing Indian destinations with overseas options, Additional Secretary and Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Suman Billa said on Tuesday, while speaking at TNIE’s Tourism Summit 2026.
The event was inaugurated with a welcome song and lighting of traditional lamp by TNIE CEO Lakshmi Menon, TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and Suman Billa. Menon delivered the welcome address, pointing out that the theme of the event was ‘India: Where Journeys Begin’. The effort, she said, was not just about bringing the world to India, but also about encouraging India to discover itself.
Billa said that one of the ways to attract travellers was to develop more global destinations within the country. He cited the examples of Kumarakom, Ekta Nagar and the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor to drive home his point. “Kumarakom in Kerala has been developed over a period of 20 years. The community has come together to create experiences, and has generated local livelihoods. It supports the ecology and environment,” he said.
Likewise, around the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar, experiences such as a world-class zoo, white-water rafting and a wellness garden have been developed. He also spoke about how urban transformation, such as opening up spaces around the Kashi Vishwanath Temple and the corridor from the temple to the Ganga River, improved the experience for visitors.
At a time when technology such as artificial intelligence are taking away jobs, he said the tourism sector has to be tapped to create more jobs. Outlining the national vision, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India has to increase tourism’s contribution from the current 5% of GDP to 10% in the next 10 years. He also said the target was to create another 25 million jobs in the tourism sector by 2030. Currently, the sector offers 89 million jobs.
Billa further pointed out that at a Niti Aayog meeting in May last year, the PM had asked every state to develop one global destination. “We are shortly going to launch a scheme called ‘One State, One Global Destination’ where each destination can receive a grant of up to `500 crore from the central government, but that is subject to states being able to show progress.”
At the session titled ‘The Arts Magnet - Creating Cultural Spaces’, singer, songwriter and actor Saras Menon pointed out how music and live performances can help improve tourism.
Violinist and music producer Shravan Sridhar said there was a dearth of infrastructure for live performance spaces, while rapper Fault Kai said there was no infrastructure for rapping in Chennai.
Culture, nature and adventure are the three pillars of tourism in Ladakh, said Ashish Kundra, chief secretary, Union Territory of Ladakh, at a session titled ‘Culture, Nature, Adventure - Travels to the Top of the World’.
Ilayaraja, tourism secretary, Madhya Pradesh, highlighted the state’s tourism destinations and said the government has invested around `25,000 crore in infrastructure, particularly around Ujjain and Indore.