Zest to travel
On March 27, 2022, most Indians rejoiced the restart of international flights after a gap of two years. In the last two years, Indian luxury hotels and destinations did well as the enthusiasm to travel continued during the pandemic, but the opportunities were limited. Research and studies conducted in March this year showed that most Indians were waiting to travel abroad again. At the time, most travel service providers were reluctant but, fortunately, travel picked up at an accelerating speed. The recovery was as quick as the slowdown and the hustle and bustle made most of the industry happy.
Flights out of India are full, visa appointments are nearly impossible, and hotels are overbooked! What a good season for business. Everyone wants a visa and just can't wait to travel. Destinations that offered visa on arrival or evisa services have done exceedingly well this summer. Interestingly, no one anticipated this kind of rush for visas and, unfortunately, the supply hasn’t been able to match the demand. Rumour has it that Europe’s loss is Australia’s gain this summer.
While Indians are aggressively travelling, global brands, DMCs and international tourism authorities are heavily investing in India. As the Indian industry has become lucrative, everyone wants a share from this pie. A recent United Nations report projected India to surpass China as world’s most populous country during 2023. But what does this mean for international tourism? Will investments by international travel brands also be one of the highest in India? While this is something worth watching, let's hope that the Indian traveller sees more ease in travel across the world. Since the pandemic, while the Indian travellers have started spending more on their holiday abroad and started to invest in luxury, it’s the lack of the Chinese and Russian outbound travellers that has put a spotlight on the Indians. While this is our moment to shine on an international platform, how is the sector making the most of it? I wonder how the associations are taking this forward as we aren’t hearing much at all!