Study of travel agents in promoting tourism through international outbound travel An empirical investigation in Mumbai and Ahmedabad

Abstract

iv newlineAbstract newlineA very important factor in favour of tourism is that it drives economic growth. In fact, newlineit is one of the few industries in the services sector that helps generate a lot of newlineemployment and drives big revenue for many countries. It is also a fact that many newlinecountries are totally dependent on tourism when it comes to their economies. Tourism newlinealso helps governments and their people come closer to each other, which leads to better newlineexchange of goods and services. Exchange of technology and exchange of ideas are newlineconsidered very critical in t newlinehumankind. newlineThe researcher has reviewed books, national and international journals in the domain newlineof tourism, outbound tourism from different countries and tourism in India. Then there newlinewas the process of fine-tuning of the research questions and an elaborate questionnaire newlinewas made. The researcher conducted a primary data collection using the questionnaire newlineand survey method after with a sample size of 309 respondents. Data Collection was done newlinefollowed by data analysis, interpretation and conclusions. Most importantly the newlineresearcher has created suggestions and recommendations for different stakeholders in newlineoutbound tourism from India including future researchers. newlineThere are 4 aspects that have been studied in this particular research, all in the context newlineof outbound tourism from India. First the different travel segments were plotted against newlinethe factors responsible for outbound destination selection. The second aspect was to newlinestudy the reasons for travellers to book international travel through travel agents; newlineinstead of booking directly themselves. This research started in 2019 and Covid newlinepresented a new dimension which was then made integral to this research study. Impact newlineof Covid-19 on outbound tourism was looked at. Finally, the aspect of expectations of newlinetravel agents in terms of support needed from different stakeholders was studied. newlineThe study revealed that the top 3 factors that have contributed to the increase in newlineoutbound travel from India over the past few years are as follows: