Future of Aviation Industry in Next 10 Years

Introduction Future of Aviation Industry seems promising and shining. The Travel and tourism industry has not only reached pre COVID-19 level but also has surpassed it. With the effort of the government agencies taking special interest in tourism activities, the tourism industry is has its hands full. The government focus on the infrastructure and ease of travel has improved the accessibility and has led to reduced travel time.

Tourism is an activity important for economic health of the country. It also generates employment not just in tourism sector but also has a capacity to generate direct as well as indirect employment. It engages skilled workforce directly but also involves the unskilled manpower in so many indirect ways. By 2028, Indian tourism and hospitality is expected to earn US$ 50.9 billion.

The government of India has undertaken important campaigns like “Namaste India” to encourage foreign visitors to travel to India. Other campaigns like “Swadesh Dekho” encourages the tourists to explore the unexplored destinations. India has just 74 airports in2014 and now today this number is 144 and the we are expecting to have 170 by 2024.There are more 2000 flights per day.

The Indian Government has also E Visa facility that allows 46 countries to travel to India with fewer hassles. Travel Agents have played key role in helping tourist to fulfil their travel dreams.

Many Travel companies feel that there is a manpower crunch in the industry. Hiring an unskilled staff can have their shortcomings like unawareness of the industry, training issues, customer handling etc. This is a sector that contributes to 10 percent of the GDP so the opportunities for employment are also ample. The challenge we all face is that although the opportunities for employment are enough, we are still unable to tap them. The biggest reason is the lack of understanding of business which ultimately leads lack of understanding the customer requirements. In today’s competitive world it is imperative to have a clear view of the consumers likes and preferences to create a sustainable market. The absence of the right training, practical platform connecting them to the real market needs leads to lots of untapped market.

The Travel industry has grown leaps and bounds in the last few decades. With the government putting special efforts industry it is expected to grow many folds further and so is the employment giving opportunities to thousands of jobs and hence to the individuals have to ensure that this opportunity is explored to its maximum which is capable of giving employment to many. Keeping that in view, we must ensure that our youth who is seeking employment in this sector is optimally trained to view their future in the industry. The institutions or colleges that conduct courses in travel and tourism must ensure that the students understand the business and their customer needs. The students should also have a candid view about their career graph and the business opportunities in the trade. It is the responsibility of the institution/ colleges to enlighten their students in a ways that they are capable of seeking employment or starting their own business. On the job trainings are must but they could be frustrating for the employer if the employee is totally unaware of the business he is into. Growing customer needs and reaching out to them intime and the fear of loosing out on the customer leads to lack of time and support for On the job trainings. It is the need of the hour for the institution/colleges to guide their students in such a way that that they can be absorbed in the industry seamlessly. Practical skills like Customer handling, product knowledge and skill development should be a prime focus.

With this ever-evolving tourism industry expanding their wings and venturing into the arena of niche tourism has to complemented with equally abled manpower. In the past few decades, the industry has witnessed unorganised and unskilled manpower. This was primarily because of high seasonality and poor regulation which led to poor wages and lack of social security. It is now a time that we create a more sustainable future for this industry and readdress the pain points such as building a robust manpower which is capable of meeting any challenges. We need to make the industry more attractive to the youth and talent of our country.

The solution to building a better workforce is to focus on digital and interpersonal skills To build such robust and enlightened work force education and awareness is important. It goes without saying that before entering the industry, our youth who is keen to be a part of the industry should have an understanding of every aspect of travel industry. The candidate should enter the industry by his choice and passion and not by accident. The awareness should be created and the school level itself. Our late and former President Shri APJ Abdul Kalam once mentioned Skill training must be introduced at the school level so once the student comes out of the school, he has two certificates one for 12^th pass and the other one is “skill Development”, so that right after the school he is employable.

Not all the students opt for regular colleges and even after they have a degree in hand they are not employable due to lack of skills required to be industry fit.

Tourism industry has shown a dramatic growth in this[i] sector in the last few years and it will continue growing in the coming years with rising and never-ending desire to travel and so will be the need for the manpower in the industry. To meet such ever-growing demand and challenging travellers the requirement for industry -fit manpower cannot be undermined. The need for this hour is to create a force who is equipped to respond to the customer that have a thirst to travel and cannot be quenched.

Conclusion- The travel and tourism industry is growing at a lighting speed and would continue to do so. The challenge for us is to tap this potential in terms of product, availability and service. The challenges and the handicaps can be curbed with a skilled, industry fit human resource as after all we are a part of service industry. To address such dynamism, it is important to pursue courses in Travel and tourism.

Tourism Ministy has undertaken the ‘NamasteIndia’ Campaign for encouraging international visitors to travel to India.