On Feb 12, the Hotels' Association of India (HAI) said the hospitality and tourism sector expects to create 50 million direct and indirect jobs in the next 5-7 years. Still, government support is required to get the full industry and infrastructure status in states to tap the employment potential. The infrastructure status for the hospitality sector can push up investments not only to create accommodation but also, in the process, boost income and employment generation, HAI President Puneet Chhatwal said while speaking here at the 6th HAI Hoteliers' Conclave.
Chhatwal, the Managing Director and CEO of Indian Hotels Company Ltd, said. At the same time, tourism is a pillar of development, creating about 10 percent of the total employment and contributing 8 percent to GDP with a huge multiplier effect that can help inclusive growth, "there is often a gap between this realization and the actual policy implementation."
Addressing a press conference, HAI Vice-President K B Kachru said in the last two years there has been "a rise of 271 percent in hirings".
"That is how business is moving. Now, we need to focus a lot on developing tourism, not only at higher levels but also at entry levels... This focus has to remain, and if we don't do that, we will not be able to service...
"We are focussing to create over 50 million jobs in the next 5-7 years," Kachru, who is also the Chairman Emeritus and Principal Advisor South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group, said.
Earlier in the day, India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant had asked the hospitality and tourism sector players to tell politicians about the creation of 25 million jobs by 2030 while seeking their help for the demand of industry and infrastructure status.
