The tourism sector has provided 79.86 Million direct & indirect jobs in the years 2019-20 as per the 3rd TSA
New Delhi: The tourism and hospitality sector is one of the largest employment-generating sectors in India and has been contributing to a major chunk of Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE). As per the 3rd TSA (Tourism Satellite Account) for the years 2017-18, 2018-19, and 2019-20 the contribution of tourism to the employment in the country is as follows:
| 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
| Share in jobs (in %) | 14.78 | 14.87 | 15.34 |
| Direct (%) | 6.44 | 6.48 | 6.69 |
| Indirect (%) | 8.34 | 8.39 | 8.65 |
| Direct + Indirect jobs due to tourism (in million) | 72.69 | 75.85 | 79.86 |
As on 18.07.2022, exams for 03 batches of the Incredible India Tourism Facilitator (IITF) basic certificate course have been successfully conducted, under which a total of 3795 candidates have been declared successful and certificates are bring issued to them after completion of their police verification. Under the revised guideline for IITF Certification Program, the existing Regional Level Guides (RLGs) have been renamed Incredible India Tourist Guides (IITGs). A total number of 1795 IITGs (formally known as RLGs) have successfully completed the Refresher course.
The IITFC program was launched on 01.01.2020 with the objective to create a pool of well-trained and professional Tourist Facilitators across the country. This is a digital initiative that provides an online learning platform under IITFC program for basic, advanced (heritage and adventure), spoken language, and refresher courses for candidates. The guidelines for IITFC have been framed keeping in mind market demand, requests from tourism stakeholders, etc. Recently, as per the request received from the stakeholders, the minimum educational criteria have been raised to Graduation or equivalent degree for IITG (Advance & Heritage) course.
