SECTION B
Essay
125 marks
Tourism: Can this be the next big thing for India?
WRITE IN
90 min
1,000–1,200 words
Reading the topic
The question asks whether tourism can become a major engine of India's growth and jobs. The examiner expects an assessment of India's vast heritage, natural and spiritual assets against its gaps in infrastructure, safety, cleanliness and marketing, and of the ecological and social limits that sustainable tourism must respect.
ThesisTourism can be India's next big growth story only if it moves from monument-hopping to sustainable, community-based experiences backed by infrastructure and safety.
Dimensions to cover
- 1Economy and jobs: tourism employs many low and semi-skilled workers in hotels, transport and crafts, suiting India's need for labour-intensive growth
- 2Assets: India's heritage sites, wildlife, coasts, Himalaya and pilgrimage circuits give it a range few countries match
- 3Gaps: poor last-mile connectivity, sanitation and safety concerns, especially for women travellers, keep foreign arrivals below potential
- 4Ecology: unregulated construction in hill towns and coasts shows that tourism without carrying capacity damages the very places it sells
- 5Communities: tourism benefits last when local people own homestays and crafts, not just distant hotel chains
- 6Domestic demand: India's growing middle class and pilgrim flows already make domestic tourism the bigger market
Counter-view
- Sceptics say tourism is seasonal, fragile to shocks like Covid-19 and brings overcrowding. The essay should accept these risks and argue for diversified, regulated tourism rather than mass volume
Open and close
- Open: Open with a homestay owner in a Kerala backwater village who once fished for a living and now earns more serving fish curry to visitors who stay three nights instead of one
- Close: Conclude that tourism will be India's next big thing only if growth is measured by local livelihoods and protected landscapes, not just arrivals
Where marks usually go
- Praising India's heritage without addressing infrastructure, safety and ecology gaps
- Quoting arrival or revenue figures from memory without year and source
- Ignoring domestic and community tourism and writing only about foreign tourists
Examples that fit
- CaseThe Incredible India campaign, launched in 2002, gave India a global tourism brand and remains its main promotional platform.Ministry of Tourism, Incredible India
- CurrentSwadesh Darshan, launched in 2014-15 and revamped as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 in 2022, funds destination development on sustainability principles.Ministry of Tourism, Swadesh Darshan scheme
- CaseKerala's Responsible Tourism initiative, piloted at Kumarakom, links hotels to local farmers and artisans so villagers share tourism income.Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission, Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala
- CaseBhutan charges visitors a Sustainable Development Fee to fund conservation and limit mass tourism, a high-value, low-volume model.Tourism Council of Bhutan
- CurrentVenice began charging day-trippers an access fee in 2024 to control overtourism, a warning for crowded Indian sites.Comune di Venezia, access fee announcement, 2024