Information and Communication Technology Application in the Indian Tourism Industry

Tourism has established as one of the fastest growing sectors in the world as the business volume of tourism is being surpassed only by the manufacturing sector. In 2019, the travel and tourism industry contributed to approximately 10.3% of the global GDP and generated 330 million jobs. As tourism has become a greater source of income and employment, many countries have increased their investment in the tourism sector and India is no exception. The investment in the sector was not limited only to mere development of physical infrastructure like hotels, airports etc., but also on the development and application of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance the service quality in this sector. This has resulted in a spontaneous rise of foreign tourist arrivals to India in the millennium from 2.54 million in 2001 to 10.93 million in 2019. Tourism industry witnessed the use of ICT globally in its services since mid of last century. The use of ICT in Tourism has diversified from automated booking systems to providing large source of information to tourists, better and faster service to its customers, improve relationship between distribution channels and enabling promotion and distribution of products directly to its customers. With the growth and development of ICT, the tourism sector capitalised on the use of internet, artificial intelligence and other e-business applications. Tourists have also started depending on the information technology platforms to review the products and make the best choice of their destinations. This paper looks into the application of the ICT in different sectors of tourism industry especially in the Indian context.