The overall nights booked on Airbnb in India have grown by almost 70% in 2022 as compared to pre-pandemic levels while domestic nights grew by 110%.
25.08.2023 - 13:24 / skift.com / Amrita Ghosh
Airbnb has signed a memorandum of understanding with India’s Ministry of Tourism to showcase the country’s heritage stays and promote cultural tourism. As part of the ministry’s “Visit India 2023” initiative, Airbnb will launch a dedicated ‘Soul of India’ microsite; offer support to hosts in untapped tourist areas; assist them in promoting their homestays; build host capacity; and foster a culture of responsible hosting.
Airbnb said it will train hospitality micro-entrepreneurs in emerging destinations that are part of the ministry’s flagship scheme, adding, it would also share travel and homestay insights with the ministry for informed responsible tourism policies and training requirements.
Last December, Airbnb inked a memorandum of understanding with the Goa tourism departmentto promote inclusive tourism. The partnership aimed to boost hinterland and homestay tourism in Goa and enable capacity building of hospitality entrepreneurs in the state. The platform is witnessing strong demand from Indian travelers for non-urban destinations like rural homestays, said Amanpreet Bajaj, general manager of India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan at Airbnb. In April, the Indian Heritage Hotels Associationpitched for creating a district-wise inventory of old bungalows, mansions, palaces and forts to promote heritage tourism.
India has become the U.S.’s second-largest international source market behind the UK (excluding Canada and Mexico), with 199,364 visitors in May, according to the latest figures from the United States National Travel and Tourism Office.
Between January and May 2023, Indian arrivals to the U.S. were placed third, after the UK and Germany, with a total of 643,270 arrivals. This number represents a 6 percent increase compared to the pre-Covid arrivals during the same period in 2019, which was a record-breaking year. The tourism agency forecasts that Indian arrivals will surpass 2019 arrival figures by the end of this year. Over 75,000 tickets to and from India were sold from the U.S. in 2022, up 432 percent year over year, according to Trevolution Group, which focuses on agency sales of airline tickets and travel services.
Indian hospitality chain Cygnett Hotels & Resorts has announced the opening of its budget segment brand Cozzet Victoria in Bhubaneswar in the eastern state of Odisha. “As we move ahead with our expansion plans for this financial year, we have been strengthening our presence in the mid-segment hospitality market in India. We will keep exploring markets where there is a need for branded value-for-money hotels,” said Sarbendra Sarkar, founder and managing director of Cygnett Hotels & Resorts. In April, the company signed a 42-room property in Sonipat in the north Indian
The overall nights booked on Airbnb in India have grown by almost 70% in 2022 as compared to pre-pandemic levels while domestic nights grew by 110%.
The U.S. Consulate General in Mumbai has cleared the visa backlog caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and said that applicants can schedule appointments for immigrant visa interviews within the standard time frame, the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai said in a statement.
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India will boost Ayush treatment — indigenous medicine and associated treatment techniques — through health tourism, informed Ayush minister Sarbananda Sonowal. Set up in 2014, the Ayush ministry is responsible for developing education, research and propagation of traditional medicine systems in India. The government has been making efforts to boost traditional medicines for international tourists visiting India for treatments under Ayush methods — ayurveda, yoga, naturopathy, unani, siddha and homeopathy, among others. Earlier this year, the Ayush ministry had signed a memorandum of understanding with the tourism ministry’s India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) to work together for the promotion of medical value travel (MVT) in Ayurveda and other traditional systems of medicine. The Indian medical value travel market size is valued at $5–6 billion and is expected to grow to $13 billion by 2026. With 5,00,000 international patients annually, India is poised for a giant leap in medical tourism on the back of soaring cost of treatment in the West and the Russia-Ukraine war driving more patients for medical care to the country. In addition, the government’s initiatives under the ‘Heal in India’ scheme — of accrediting Ayush centers and launching Ayush e-visa — is also expected to fuel medical tourism.
Aiming to be a top adventure tourism destination, the Indian tourism minister recently spoke about focusing on infrastructure development to boost this segment. However, India would need more than just infrastructure development. Quality standards, regulation and oversight would be needed for India to become a leading adventure tourism destination. Most guides, operators and instructors in the country fail to meet basic safety requirements as there are over 5,000 unregistered adventure tour operators in the country, said Vaibhav Kala, founder of New Delhi-based Aquaterra Adventures, told Skift. Highly specialized activities are operated by non-specialized operators due to lack of guidelines and limited skilling facilities. “We need a uniform nationwide regulatory system with ease of registration, training institutes and licensed guides to offer quality and safe experiences to tourists from around the world,” said Kala. Tourism in India lacks legislative backing and is therefore, a state subject. The Centre doesn’t have a mandate to enforce approved regulations and guidelines on the states. States like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal have all been working on adventure tourism standards and guidelines — but in total isolation. Pradeep Murthy, director of Kerala-based MuddyBoots Vacations, highlighted to Skift how several unregulated adventure bucket shops which provide low-quality equipment severely impact safety. “Many operators use plastic helmets for bungee jumping and white water rafting which are otherwise used for scaffolding work in construction,” he said. It’s important that consumers understand and find out if the right adventure equipment is being used — which should ideally be tested in proper laboratories and certified to international standards. “Operators would be forced to adopt regulatory practices only if customers start demanding for licensed operators. The government should therefore, look at educating consumers on a mass level,” added Murthy. India also needs to have a proper mechanism for evacuation and rescue so that tourists are airlifted to safety.
In a much-needed impetus for adventure tourism, India would be looking to focus on developing infrastructure for this segment, Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy said recently. Reddy said India aims to be the a top adventure tourism destination. The second tourism working group meeting under G20 hosted by India’s tourism ministry began with a side event, a panel discussion on “Adventure tourism as a vehicle for achieving sustainable development goals.” Delivering the keynote, Reddy highlighted how India’s topography is conducive for a variety of adventure activities like camping, paragliding, hot air ballooning, river cruising, sailing, snorkeling and wildlife safari. “We have a 4,349-mile coastline, 70 percent of the Himalayas, about 435 miles of rivers, sand desert and cold desert in Ladakh…all of which provide opportunities for a variety of adventure activities for both domestic and foreign tourists,” Reddy said. Talking about the national adventure tourism strategy framed last year, Reddy said it would focus on initiatives like state ranking criteria for adventure tourism sites, a model adventure tourism law, development of mega trails, development of adventure activity guidelines, adventure tourism rescue centers, and development of website and social media pages for adventure tourism.