Article
Towards A Comprehensive Tourism Law in India: An Analysis of the Existing Legal Framework and Regulatory Gaps
The tourism industry in India is responsible for around 7.8% of GDP and provides direct & indirect employment to more than 87.5 crores of population while there is no single organizing or comprehensive law dealing with tourism level in India. Rather it steers a way through a complex network of legislation, government policies, both at the central and state level, and administrative directives, all of which in isolation are unable to respond to the unique complexity and dynamism of the sector. This review paper making a critical study of Indian legal framework in the present state of tourism, key gaps, and analysis of tourism governance keeping in view the constitutional dimension, policy aspect and the stakeholders involved. This paper assumes there is a structure deficit in the Indian tourism law in absence of a separated national Tourism Act, and illustrates these direct negative implications for tourism consumer protection, for tourist safety, for the environment, and for India's competitiveness as a tourist destination region on the basis of a comparison of the laws of other destinations such as the Maldives, France, Kenya and Australia and the synthesis of doctrinal legal analysis and policy evaluation. The paper outlines the fragmented statutory regime of which the debates relating to the Tourism (Development and Regulation) Draft Bill, the Contract Act, the Consumer Protection Act, environmental legislations, the various state tourism acts and many more are a part, and offered basic framework architecture for a complete Indian Tourism Law. The recommendations cover the regulatory institutionalization, multi-stakeholder governance, digital tourism regulation, accessible tourism standards, and crisis management provisions highlighting the legal reform agenda for India tourism in the larger context of a global class tourism destination-governed by the rule of law.