¶ … tourism industry of India and Indonesia. Apart from this fact book present important data and statistics related to the overall international tourism industry of that Asian tourism industry. India and Indonesia, both are showing positive trends and growth projection in tourism industry. There are several macroeconomic, socio-cultural, economic, political, and other factors of both countries which have long lasting impact on the growth potential of the overall tourism industry.

In report also give important recommendations and findings on account of which country is more feasible to start business related to tourism industry.

The goal and purpose of this paper is to do detailed comparative analysis of business environment and opportunities in two different countries with respect to a particular industry. The industry selected in this regard is tourism industry with specific consideration on hotels and restaurants. The two countries selected for this comparison are India and Indonesia. The fact book will cover all relevant factors and aspects of the tourism industry of both countries.

The report will first introduce and describe the industry selected i.e. tourism industry, the important attributes and statistics of this industry worldwide and specifically in Asia as the countries selected are both from Asia. It will be beneficial to study the tourism industry of these countries in reference to the tourism industry of overall Asia.

This fact book or paper will be an important tool to analyze and evaluate that how and why the conditions and factors related to tourism industry are different in both countries i.e. India and Indonesia. The fact book will present the comparative analysis which will be facilitate and help in taking decision about the selection of country for investing in the particular industry of tourism.

Hence this fact book will be relevant and useful for the businesses and investors who are looking forward to do business or invest in tourism industry in any of these countries or more generally in Asian market. The tourism industry is one of the growing and progressing industries all over the world. Apart from this the tourism industry of any country is highly dependent on the macro environment, social, cultural, political, and economic factors of that country. Hence before deciding to enter into tourism industry of any particular country one should analyze all these factors and attributes of that country.

METHODOLOGY:

The methodology followed to compile this fact book or paper is of secondary research. The already published work on the tourism industry is used to analyze and evaluate the overall situation of the tourism industry in the both countries. The data is gathered and used from different papers and websites of tourism industry. This methodology was used because of the availability of limited time and cost.

INTRODUCTION TO THE TOURISM INDUSTRY:

Tourism industry is growing and progressing at a rapid pace. More and more people are becoming interested in tourism and are adopting tourism as their favorite leisure activity or hobby. The definition of tourism is that it is travelling for leisure, recreational, or vacation purpose. There are many people in this world who like to travel to different locations, regions, and countries for recreational and fun purpose. World Tourism Organization has given the definition of tourist. According to this organization, a person who is travelling to different countries, regions, and places other than his normal environment and surroundings and is staying there for more than a day but less than one year, for any reason of leisure, entertainment, vacation, and even business is known as a tourist.

Despite of the fact that tourism has become one of the popular and famous international activities for utilizing free or leisure time, it has also been affected and influenced by the economic crunch and recession like any other industry. The tourism industry experienced adverse impact and influence of economic downturn, as people started to cut down their expenditures and spending on travelling and other recreational activities. The economic downturn and recession forced people to hold tight their budget and expenditure and focus more on savings. This cut down in budget for recreational and travelling purpose was visible by witnessing the decrease in activities related to tourism and receipts of international tourism.

It was in the year 2008 that this decreasing tendency was witnessed in international tourism and was more rapid in the year 2009. The international tourist arrivals showed a significant and worth considering decrease of -8% in the start of the year 2009. It was in the year 2010 that the tourism industry again reported growth and increase in the international...

The growth in the tourism industry is still uneven, but it is being considered that the industry has started to recover from the phase of decline. This phase of recovery started in the last quarter of the year 2009 and the tourism industry reported that international tourists' arrivals have been increased and have shown positive growth of 7% in the first quarter of the year 2010 (UNWTO, 2009).
(Source: UNWTO World Tourism Barometer)

Hence it can be viewed clearly that the international tourism industry is reflecting a trend of positive growth which is beneficial for businesses related to the tourism industry.

TOURISM, LEISURE, HOSPITALITY, AND CULTURE INDUSTRY AND MARKET OF ASIA:

As the focus of the report is on the tourism industry of two Asian countries it will be beneficial and significant to evaluate and analyze the tourism industry and market of Asia. This will facilitate and help in analyzing and comparing the tourism industries of India and Indonesia more effectively and efficiently.

As stated before, in the year 2010 the overall international tourism industry showed a positive growth. Despite of this overall positive trend there were some discrepancies and uneven results in certain locations and regions. In the beginning of the year 2010, a positive and outstanding growth of 12% was shown by the region of Asia and Pacific. Within this region, the fastest growth projections and trends were shown by the sub-regions of South Asia and South East Asia. Both sub-regions reflected a positive growth of 14% for each sub-region.

This region has witnessed highest growth trends in the international tourists' arrival. Asia is one region which has reflected fastest and quickest recovery from the negative impacts and influences of the worldwide economic crunch and recession in almost every other industry. Similarly the region demonstrated the fastest recovery trend in the tourism industry and more specifically in the arrivals of international tourists. According to the report of the World Tourism Organization the region demonstrated an increase of 12% in the growth rate as compared to the growth rate of overall international tourism industry which is 7% (UNWTO, 2010).

(Source: UNWTO Asia Pacific Newsletter 2010)

The major contributors in this increased growth rate in the region of Asia are China, India, Republic of Korea, Japan, and Indonesia. The tourism industry of India and Sri Lanka has been trying to recover from economic recession on one side and on the other from their internal problems for example the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and the civil war in Sri Lanka. The tourism industry of India reported a growth of 11% in the starting months of the year 2010, and that of Sri Lanka reported a positive growth of 49% which is remarkable (UNWTO, 2010).

The investment in the tourism industry in the region of Asia is increasing despite of the economic crunch and declining profits. The countries in the region are taking important and considerable measures and steps in order to increase the capacity of flights and introducing new routes which will be economical. The growth in capacity of hotel showed a slowing down trend, but is still worth consideration.

The governments of India and China have recognized and acknowledged the importance of the tourism industry. The investors have also recognized the potential of the China and India in the improvement of the Asian and international tourism industry in the long run. China is the first country to recognize and announce tourism as one of the important strategic pillar of the economic growth of the country. Apart from this India is also showing huge growth potential and is demonstrating positive growth in the tourism industry. The government of India after realizing the importance of tourism industry in the economic growth is investing heavily in the development of new infrastructure which will support the growth of the tourism industry. The country is building new highways, is up-gradating important and significant historical places and gates, investing in hotels of international standards etc. Other than this the investors have also identified significant and important niche markets like adventure tourism and rural tourism. There is also huge growth in the medical tourism industry in India. The tourism industry and market of India has further shown positive trends and growth after the launch of popular marketing campaign of Incredible India and the initiation of the programs like visas o arrival for various international tourists (UNWTO, 2010).

Hence one can say that the tourism industry of Asia has shown considerable and remarkable growth and progress and the region has demonstrated worth mentioning and considering recovery from the overall decline due to…