Tourism Entrepreneurship for the Youth – An Analysis of Rural and Urban India

Abstract

It is surprising to know that Tourism is world’s largest industry accounting for 5% of world GDP and 7% of world employment. But what is more interesting is that 90% of world’s tourism entities are run by young entrepreneurs. On the other hand, India is a ‘young country’ now with 65% of its population below the age of 35. Looking at the diverse tourism products India offers or can offer, its performance in world scenario is dismal. Thus, there lies a need for developing tourism entrepreneurship among youth in India. A proper analysis of the current scenario followed by planning and implementation can catapult Indian tourism into heights unimagined and turn the potentials into performance. The idea of making two separate analyses – urban & rural – is to accept the fact that India has two parallel economies within and also to bridge the gap between them. From pure tourism point of view urban India has metros, malls, multiplexes, museums to offer. In contrast, rural India has nature’s beauty, life’s simplicity and a cultural identity to offer. In this age of possibilities, we just can’t leave the tourism development to political willingness or capital expenditure. It is for the youth of this country to realise this and use tourism to stop regional and economic disparities.