Brunei’s Move to Attract Indian Tourists - India Report

12.11.2024 - 05:01 / skift.com / Bulbul Dhawan

Brunei’s flag carrier Royal Brunei Airlines has launched a new direct service between Chennai in India and Bandar Seri Begawan. The airline will operate three weekly flights on the route. The route also aims to build on Royal Brunei Airlines’ codeshare agreement with Air India to capture share among Indian travelers. 

In a statement, the airline said that the route aligns with India’s vision for 2025 to be celebrated as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism. The initiative is part of India’s ‘Act East Policy,’ which aims to deepen India’s relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. 

India’s Outbound Potential: India is emerging as a key source destination, as stated in reports by Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)and consulting firm McKinsey and Company.

In November 2023, Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India projected that by 2030, Indian travelers would make over 50 million international trips a year. In 2023, this figure was 28.2 million, according to data from the Indian tourism ministry. Indian commerce body FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry) further expects this to increase to 80 million to 90 million trips a year by 2040. 

“Indian nationals are traveling more than before. Six months into 2024, 98% of Indian travelers were keen to explore new destinations, which indicates that Indian traveler’s passion for global exploration has reached unprecedented heights in 2024,” the FICCI report added. 

And for their exploration, Indians are choosing proximity as their key decision factor when finalizing the destination. This has led to Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries increasing their efforts and flight connectivity to India.

Full-service airline Air India has launched a new service called ‘Fly Prior’ as a way to offer more flexibility to passengers. With this service, Air India passengers will have the option of taking an alternative flight departing up to 12 hours before the originally booked flight. The service aims to target passengers who might need to make last-minute changes to their travel plans. 

However, to use the service, passengers would have to pay an additional fee unless they have Gold or Platinum memberships of the airline’s loyalty program. Moreover, the service can only be availed at Air India’s ticketing counters and check-in desks at airports across India. Both the flights would also need to have the same scheduled date of departure, which would limit the alternative options for passengers who have booked late night flights.

Global hotel owner and operator Minor Hotels held a three-day roadshow in India to meet travel agents, wedding planners, and MICE companies. During the roadshow, the