Amitabh Kant warns: 'Promote tourism or India's new 1,800-plane fleet will just fly Indians abroad'

Former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has warned that India must promote its tourism sector or risk wasting the potential of its new airline fleet. Following US President Donald Trump's decision to slap a 50% tariff on Indian goods, Kant suggested that tourism, which is unaffected by such tariffs, could be India's biggest source of export earnings. He highlighted that despite India's rich natural beauty, history, and culture, the country only holds a 1.5% share of global tourist arrivals.

"India's biggest export earnings can come from tourism which is totally free from Trump's tariffs. India, with its natural beauty, history, heritage, culture, and diversity, sees a mere 1.5% share in international tourist arrivals. There has been no concerted branding or marketing campaign for Indian tourism in the past decade," Kant said on Saturday. He further stressed that without a major global marketing push, India would continue to miss out on its full potential.

"We need the biggest global branding and marketing campaign to unleash Incredible India's immense potential. Otherwise, with the 1800 planes Indian airlines are buying, we will just be ferrying Indians flying abroad for holidays," Kant warned. He argued that attracting global tourists could more than compensate for the 50% tariff imposed by US President Donald Trump on Indian goods. "We must attract global tourists. They will more than make up for 50% tariff levied by Trump on goods," he said.

Kant's call for tourism promotion follows a sharp escalation in US-India trade tensions. Trump earlier this week imposed a 25% additional tariff on Indian goods, effectively doubling the levy to 50%, in response to India's continued imports of Russian oil. This tariff hike, which comes into effect on August 27, is expected to severely affect sectors like textiles, marine, and leather exports. India has condemned the tariff, calling it "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable." Meanwhile, other nations like China and Turkey have not been subjected to such severe penalties, with their tariffs set at 30% and 15%, respectively.

The escalating dispute has raised concerns about the impact on bilateral trade. Wendy Cutler, former Deputy US Trade Representative and Senior Vice President of the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI), noted that the additional tariff would likely cut off most Indian exports to the US.