Trendmill
Tourism hits fast-growth highway
10m more jobs likely by 2015

India's rapidly growing travel industry is on the verge of witnessing an employment boom with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) estimating it will create a whopping 10 million jobs by 2015, according to a report from New Delhi.

"There is a rush towards travel and tourism," Kuoni Academy of Travel Vice-President and head Kamal Hingorani said recently, pointing out that the projected 10 million jobs were nearly three times more than the IT industry is expected to generate in the same period.

Jobs will be created in airport handling services, travel-related call centers and tour operating agencies, thanks to the growth in tourism industry, especially the aviation sector that has unshackled the skies to many foreign carriers.

The opportunities thrown open in the sector have triggered a rush towards travel and tourism studies similar to the rush to enroll in IT teaching schools and institutes in the nineties.

While Indian universities and colleges churn out more than 150,000 IT professionals every year, there are few recognised travel-related institutes.

"We have been increasing our student intake steadily to keep pace with the industry's demand," said Atul Gautam, senior executive with Air Hostess Academy (AHA).

Kuoni too has trained over 1,000 travel professionals since its inception in 2003. Besides Kuoni and AHA, institutes like Aptima Academy, Frankfinn Management Consultants, Flyers Inc. and Free Bird Aviation and Management Services have come out with specific courses for aspirants of travel jobs.

Time for a flying start

"There is going to be a ripple effect of sorts with an increase in air connectivity, which will require bigger airports, more flight handling agencies, thereby creating more jobs. The growth is going to be exponential," said Hingorani.

With most of the institutes requiring only a plus two qualification for admission, more and more students are taking to these courses at the end of which they are placed in jobs that fetch salaries ranging from Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 14,000, widely considered a decent sum for a beginner.

The aspirants, however, have to shell out Rs. 9,000 for a six-month course.

Also, travel students need not worry about a slump in the market as the WTTC has forecast the Indian tourism to grow at 9.2 per cent every year, faster than China's 8.6 per cent.

"The airline industry is growing, the hotels are growing and so is the overall tourism sector," said Gautam, commenting on India's tourism industry, which for the first time in 2004 recorded 3.36 million foreign tourist arrivals. — IANS