Fiscal 2026 Strategic Directive: Tourism Sector Receives Major Policy Infusion to Catalyze Outbound Travel and Workforce Development

The Fiscal 2026 budget introduces a comprehensive policy framework aimed at revitalizing the outbound tourism sector through targeted fiscal and structural interventions. Key measures include a reduction in the Tax Collected at Source (TCS) rate for international travel expenditures, a move designed to lower financial barriers and stimulate consumer spending on overseas tourism. Concurrently, the government has unveiled a multi-pronged capacity-building initiative. This includes the establishment of a National Institute of Hospitality to standardize and elevate professional training, alongside a program to upskill 10,000 tourist guides at nationally significant heritage and cultural sites, enhancing service quality and visitor experience. A cornerstone of the digital transformation strategy is the proposed National Destination Digital Knowledge Grid, intended to consolidate and disseminate critical tourism data, market intelligence, and destination analytics to stakeholders. Collectively, these measures represent a strategic pivot from broad-based support to a focused, skill-centric and digitally-enabled approach, positioning the tourism industry for sustainable growth, improved global competitiveness, and a more robust contribution to the national economy through foreign exchange earnings and employment generation.