India’s tourism industry is preparing for a significant expansion. Hotels are entering new markets, pilgrimage destinations are attracting investment, and wellness tourism, meetings and conferences, and experiential travel are widening the industry’s scope. But there is a problem beneath this growth story: who will be available to deliver these experiences?

According to a September 2026 report by CBRE Research, India’s tourism industry could face a shortfall of approximately 11 million workers by 2035. The report identifies gaps in specialised skills, employee retention and training capacity, particularly in Tier-II and Tier-III cities.

The projection raises a question for an industry focused on expansion: is workforce development keeping pace with the creation of new hospitality infrastructure?

More Hotels, But Where Are the People?

The challenge extends beyond recruiting front-office executives, chefs and housekeeping staff. As tourism diversifies, the industry needs people trained for specialised roles in wellness, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions), cruise tourism and guided heritage experiences. These segments require capabilities that may not be adequately covered by conventional hospitality training programmes. 

Geography adds another complication. Hotel development is increasingly moving into smaller cities and emerging destinations, while much of the established training infrastructure remains concentrated in traditional centres. This creates a mismatch: new properties may open in locations where the local talent pool is not yet equipped to meet their staffing requirements.

For hotel owners, the implications are practical. Recruitment can take longer, training costs can rise, and service consistency can become harder to maintain. In an industry where guest experience depends heavily on frontline employees, staffing is not simply an HR concern; it can influence operational performance and a property's reputation.

Why Is Hospitality Struggling to Retain Talent?

The problem is not only about producing more trained workers. It is also about keeping them in the industry.

The CBRE report identifies long working hours, modest pay and perceptions of limited career prospects as factors pushing trained employees towards other sectors, including aviation, retail and business process outsourcing.

This presents hospitality businesses with a difficult cycle. Hotels invest in training employees, but when working conditions, compensation or career progression fail to meet expectations, those employees may leave. Businesses must then spend more time and resources recruiting and training replacements.

Can the industry close its skills gap through training programmes alone if the working conditions that influence retention remain largely unchanged?

The question becomes more significant as operators expand into markets where experienced hospitality professionals may already be scarce.

Is Training Keeping Pace With Expansion?

Policy initiatives offer a starting point. CBRE's report highlights proposals under the Union Budget 2026–27 to upgrade the National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology into a National Institute of Hospitality, alongside a pilot programme to train 10,000 tourist guides across 20 iconic tourist sites.

However, the scale of the projected workforce gap calls for coordination between educational institutions, hotel operators and policymakers. Training must reflect the skills businesses actually need, reach emerging hospitality markets and offer career pathways that encourage employees to stay.

For hotel companies, this could mean strengthening internal training, developing local recruitment pipelines and making progression from entry-level roles to supervisory and management positions more visible.

India's tourism opportunity is substantial, but expansion alone will not guarantee better guest experiences or sustainable business performance.

If the industry is building more hotels and creating new tourism destinations, workforce planning must become part of that expansion strategy—not a problem to solve after the doors open.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has proposed new restrictions on added sugars in food products intended for infants up to six months of age. The move aims to strengthen infant nutrition standards and ensure that products meet the nutritional needs of babies during their crucial early stages of growth and development.

The draft Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Amendment Regulations, 2026, was published in the Gazette of India on 16 October 2026. It proposes to prohibit the addition of sucrose and fructose to products intended for infants up to six months old.

Under the existing Food Safety and Standards (Foods for Infant Nutrition) Regulations, 2020, nutritional composition, quality and safety standards are prescribed for different categories of infant nutrition products intended for children from birth to 24 months of age. The current provisions identify lactose and glucose polymers as preferred carbohydrate sources, while allowing sucrose and/or fructose to be added when required as a carbohydrate source, subject to prescribed limits.

The proposed amendment seeks to introduce a specific restriction for products intended for younger infants. The draft provision states that "sucrose and fructose shall not be added in the products intended for infants up to the age of 6 months".

The proposal focuses on reducing unnecessary exposure to added sugars during early infancy, when proper nutrition plays an important role in brain development, immunity and physical growth. Early exposure to sweetened products may also influence taste preferences and eating habits as children grow.

The initiative aligns with wider public health efforts to encourage appropriate infant feeding practices and reduce dietary risk factors associated with childhood obesity and other health concerns. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life where feasible and recommends that children under two years of age should not consume foods or drinks containing added sugars.

Unlike a labelling change that asks parents to identify and avoid certain ingredients, the proposed restriction would set a limit on what manufacturers can add to products intended for infants in this age group. It aims to provide a clearer regulatory framework for age-appropriate infant nutrition while supporting healthy growth and development.

The draft notification has been published for public consultation. FSSAI has invited objections and suggestions from stakeholders within 60 days from the date on which copies of the Official Gazette containing the notification are made available to the public. The representations received within the prescribed period will be considered by FSSAI before the amendment is finalised. Until then, the proposal remains a draft regulation.

A meal purchased on a train comes with an expectation of basic safety. Yet, unlike a restaurant where customers can inspect the premises or choose an alternative nearby, railway passengers often have limited options once their journey begins. This makes food safety in railway catering not merely a service-quality issue, but a question of consumer protection and institutional accountability.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has now partnered with the Quality Council of India (QCI) to strengthen food safety and hygiene through independent third-party audits. Announced on October 15, 2026, the agreement introduces a technology-driven monitoring mechanism covering mobile catering units on trains and static catering facilities at railway stations.

Under the arrangement, QCI will conduct unannounced quarterly and half-yearly inspections. Auditors will assess food handling, storage, staff hygiene, medical fitness, pest control and compliance with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) regulations. Digital records, including geo-tagging, time stamps and photographic evidence, are intended to improve transparency. Audit reports are expected within 24 hours, with corrective and preventive action tracking for vendors found deficient.

The initiative addresses an important need. However, introducing an independent inspection mechanism is only the first step. Its effectiveness will ultimately depend on what happens when a catering unit fails to meet the required standards.

An Audit Is Only as Strong as Its Enforcement

Food safety depends on consistent practices, not just compliance on inspection day. A kitchen may appear clean during an assessment, but maintaining the same standards across daily operations, staff shifts and changing passenger volumes is a different challenge.

Unannounced inspections can help identify shortcomings that scheduled visits might miss. Digital evidence can also make findings easier to document and track. But these measures alone cannot guarantee that identified problems are resolved.

What happens when an auditor discovers improper food storage, inadequate sanitation or poor handling practices? How quickly must the operator correct the problem? Will a follow-up inspection verify compliance? And what consequences will apply if the same violations recur?

These are central questions for the new framework. The reported arrangement includes corrective and preventive action tracking, but the practical impact will depend on how consistently these measures are enforced against catering operators.

Who Is Responsible When Standards Fall Short?

Accountability is particularly important in a system involving multiple catering units and contractors. Independent auditors can identify violations, but the responsibility for acting on those findings must remain clear.

IRCTC and the relevant authorities need an effective mechanism to ensure that audit findings translate into corrective action. Catering contractors, meanwhile, must be held responsible for maintaining hygiene and food safety throughout their operations.

Transparency could strengthen this process further. Making suitable compliance information accessible to passengers, alongside clear channels for reporting concerns, would help demonstrate whether the monitoring system is delivering results. Such measures would need to be established and implemented; their availability should not be assumed.

The Passenger Is the Real Measure of Success

For railway passengers, the value of this partnership will not be determined by the number of audits conducted or reports submitted. It will be measured by whether unsafe practices are identified, repeated violations are addressed and food handling standards improve over time.

IRCTC’s partnership with QCI is a constructive step towards stronger oversight of railway catering. But independent audits must lead to consistent compliance, meaningful consequences and verifiable improvements.

The real question is not whether railway food is being inspected. It is whether the system can ensure that food remains safe after the inspection is over.