With increased expenditure on tourism and hospitality earning laurels for the state, Gujarat has climbed two places in the India State Ranking Survey 2011 by HVS, a global hospitality consulting firm. The state rankings on tourism and hospitality are part of a recent HVS White Paper titled 'Hotel Room Supply, Capital Investment and Manpower Requirement by 2021'. Based on multiple parameters including luxury tax on hotels, state expenditure on tourism, tourist arrivals, and presence of branded hotel rooms, among others for the consolidated rankings, Gujarat has been ranked at no. 7 for 2011 as against no. 9 in 2009. Moreover, the report appreciated Gujarat's increased expenditure on tourism.
"On a positive note, there are states that have considerably improved their tourism spend over the past two years. The greatest improvement has been shown by Karnataka, which has increased its tourism expenditure from 0.03 per cent to 0.22 per cent. This is followed by Gujarat, moving from 0.07 per cent to 0.16 per cent. Gujarat's efforts to promote tourism are unmistakable with the new Gujarat Tourism campaign promoted by Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan," the report further stated.
What's more, as against a desired weightage of 25 for luxury tax on hotels, Gujarat earned a weightage of 18, much ahead of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Tax applied on hotel room tariffs varies significantly from state to state, not just in pure percentage terms but also in the way it is computed. Some states charge Luxury Tax on the published tariff of the room instead of the actual tariff of the room, which is typically a discounted rate.
"The States and Union Territories should closely examine the parameters on which they are ranked and evolve better mechanisms to promote tourism, which can significantly contribute to the economy of the State. Each of our States and Union Territories has considerable wealth in tourism and opportunities need to be explored in a planned manner," the report stated about state rankings. Meanwhile, domestic tourists numbers, according to the HVS report, in Gujarat stood at 188,61,000, ranking at no. 10 in 2010-11. However, the international tourists numbers in the state was around 1,31,000 ranking at no. 15.