Tourism in South Asia: an economic leverage to India

Tourism occupies paramount significance in the global landscape, as an economic as well as a social phenomenon. When the sociocultural exchange can be the drive for tourism in developed regions, for economically backward regions, this is uncontestably a viable economic activity with little or less capital accumulation. Promotion of social and cultural exchange, by means of people-to-people contact, was an important agenda of the SAARC to accomplish economic interdependence for the integrated development of the region. This descriptive study examines various economic impacts of tourism among the SAARC region based on World Travel and Tourism Council’s latest statistics. We also attempt to review the inbound tourism in India from South Asian region over one decade to understand its longitudinal trends. The study finds that India maintains a special advantage in the inflow of tourists among its peer member countries in the region. The spatial advantages, physiographic features, cultural heritage and other competitive advantages have enabled the country to be unique in this respect. The paper argues that India can be a catalyst of tourism promotion in South Asia by utilising the hub and spoke model of development.