Here is how tourism and hospitality stocks were trading post Budget 2026-27; Check key announcements

Hospitality and tourism stocks, such as EIH Ltd (up 0.71%), Lemon Tree Hotels (-0.76%), ITC Hotels (1%), Easy Trip Planners (-1.85%), Thomas Cook (-1.44%) and more, were trading mixed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Monday, February 2.

This comes a day after the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Budget for 2026-27 in the parliament.

During her budget speech, the Finance Minister announced a slew of measures to boost the tourism and hospitality sector in India, with a special focus on medical tourism and up-skilling, among others.

“The Tourism sector has the potential to play a large role in employment generation, forex earnings and expanding the local economy,” Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Budget 2026: Here are key announcements for the tourism sector

The government announced a seaplane Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme to provide operational support to the tourism sector.

It proposed setting up a National Institute of Hospitality by upgrading the existing National Council for Hotel Management and Catering Technology. The Finance Minister said it will function as a bridge between academia, industry, and the government.

It proposed setting up a pilot scheme for upskilling 10,000 guides in 20 iconic tourist sites through a standardised, high-quality 12-week training course in hybrid mode, in collaboration with an Indian Institute of Management.

Furthermore, it will also establish a National Destination Digital Knowledge Gridfor digitally documenting all places of significance, including cultural, spiritual and heritage.

“This initiative will create a new ecosystem of jobs for local researchers, historians, content creators and technology partners,” the Finance Minister stated.

The government will also develop ecologically sustainable mountain trails in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir. Additionally, it will set up turtle trails along key nesting sites in the coastal areas of Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala, along with bird-watching trails in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

The Budget also proposed to develop 15 archeological sites, including Lothal, Dholavira, Rakhigarhi, Adichanallur, Sarnath, Hastinapur, and Leh Palace into “vibrant, experiential cultural destinations.”

It added that excavated landscapes will be opened to the public through “curated walkways”.

“Immersive storytelling skills and technologies will be introduced to help conservation labs, interpretation centres, and guides,” Sitharaman added.

To promote India as a medical tourism hub, the Finance Minister announced the launch of a Scheme to support States in establishing five Regional Medical Hubs, in partnership with the private sector.

They will serve as integrated healthcare complexes that combine medical, educational and research facilities, the budget stated.

The hubs will have AYUSH centres, medical value tourism facilitation centres and infrastructure for diagnostics, post-care and rehabilitation.

“These hubs will provide diverse job opportunities for health professionals, including doctors and AHPs,” she said.

Overseas tour programme packages, including expenses for travel or hotel stay or boarding, lodging, or any similar or related expenditure, saw a tax collected at source (TCS) reduction from 5% on amounts aggregating up to ₹10 lakh and 20% on amounts exceeding ₹10 lakh to 2%.