Destination North India

Tourism is now the largest service industry globally, in terms of gross revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) for 2006 forecasts that travel and tourism will generate 234 million direct and indirect jobs world-wide, accounting for 8.7 per cent of the global employment, and it will contribute to 10.3 per cent of the global GDP in the near future. According to a tourism satellite accounting for India, tourism's contribution to the GDP of the country has been 5.9 per cent in 2003-04, while employment in the tourism sector, both direct and indirect, has been 41.8 million in the same year, accounting for 8.78 per cent of total employment in the country.