At a time when India is preparing to roll out the Incredible India 2.0 campaign with a budget of over $46 million, a white paper released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) recently at the India Economic Summit has come as a shot in the arm. The white paper has pegged India’s travel and tourism opportunity at over $20 billion.

Interestingly, India received nearly nine million international travellers in 2016 and its domestic demand nearly touched the 100 million mark. Add to this fact that India is effectively one of the fastest growing aviation markets in the world and according to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017, is one of the most improved nations, reaching the 40th position compared to 65th in 2013.

Positive sentiment

And now with an overall positive sentiment in the sector, the recently released WEF report has estimated that with a growth in international arrivals to 20 million in India, the upside opportunity would be $19.9 billion in incremental tourism receipts from international travellers. Mind you that several top names from the Indian travel and aviation industry have contributed towards the findings in the report.

Take for instance what Tourism Australia, the Australian government agency responsible for promoting Australia to the world as a destination for business and leisure travel, has to say. “Visitors from this part of the world are looking forward to luxurious experiences, including aquatic & coastal (beaches), self-drive, nature, wildlife, history and culture on their Australian sojourn. With a growing penchant for travel, we expect growth from India’s top metro cities to continue over the years to follow,” said Nishant Kashikar, country manager, India & Gulf, Tourism Australia. Kashikar’s optimism certainly stemmed from the overall positive sentiments in the travel and tourism sector.

The increasing travel appetite of Indians has taken them to new destinations this festive season. And the trend is continuing. While Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, and Western remain the most preferred  short haul destinations, Indian tourists are now ready to experiment and explore new destinations.  Leading travel companies and tour operators have witnessed a proliferation of budget travellers for international travel with an increase of 12 per cent from the last year.

Karan Anand, head relationships, Cox and Kings, said, “The demand for international holidays to popular destinations such as the UK, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy has gone up. And we expect a growth of over 15 per cent this year compared to last year. Similarly, short haul destinations such as Bangkok, Koh Samui, Vietnam, Macau, Singapore and Malaysia are expected to grow by 17-19 per cent compared to last year.”

He said, “On the domestic front, Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa, Himachal and Ladakh have turned out to be all time favourites. People are also exploring destinations in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This segment has seen a 20 per cent growth in inquiries compared to last year.”

Domestic travel

Asit Biswas, managing director, Help Tourism, said, "For some time, the travel market was shaky. People were holding back or postponing their travel plans. But it looks like the economy is back on the rails, consumers have started spending and along with other consumer goods, travellers are also keeping their travel kits ready. We see renewed and increasing interest from among tourists. Lots of new destinations are fast coming up both within and outside the country. We expect this trend to continue and improve further, going forward."

Says Partha Das of Servcon, a Kolkata headquartered travel marketing and consulting firm, "Going by the trend during the current festival season, there is no doubt that the travel market is reviving, which is an outcome of the economy itself reviving. Travellers have again started going out on vacations. The spirit, which got dampened post demonetisation has come back. This festive season, that spirit was in evidence. There was a huge demand for closed-group travel. According to our estimates, there has been a two-fold demand in closed group departures. We also expect travel to new destinations to grow by about 10 per cent."

There are others like Aditi Balbir, founder and CEO of V Resorts, who thinks that with the positive consumer sentiments all around, particularly in travel and tourism sector, “It is high time to take advantage of the unexplored 600,000 villages with their own cultures and heritage, ecotourism and cruise tourism to create unique experiences for travelers. The next phase of growth in travel and tourism industry is going to come from that segment, she says.