SAMEER KUMAR

Rural Tourism — A Sustainable Approach to Rural Development

Tourism is one of the largest and most profitable industries in the world. It has a significant impact on society, including job creation, economic growth, and infrastructural development. Having generated almost US$ 8 trillion in revenue and approximately 300 million jobs (2014), the tourism industry ranked 1st among the service sector industries. The global figures for the number of international tourist arrivals in 2016 were 1.24 billion. Of these, 14.5 million international arrivals were recorded in India. The tourism industry in India is a highly profitable industry with the country's foreign exchange earnings alone amounting to US$ 27.7 billion. The number of domestic tourist visits stood at close to 1.6 billion.