India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its first-ever travel focused credit card. ‘SBI Card MILES’ has been launched in three variants to cater to different types of travelers, from beginners to frequent flyers.
10.04.2024 - 04:49 / skift.com / Air India / Bulbul Dhawan / Airlines
The Goa tourism department has partnered with the organizers of the Ironman 70.3 India race to promote sports tourism. According to Goa tourism director Suneel Anchipaka, the aim of the agreement is to promote Goa as the premier destination for sports tourism.
Ironman 70.3 India, Goa is the Indian edition of the 113-km triathlon race held all over the globe. The race has been held in Goa since 2019, and over the past three editions, it has brought triathletes from across India and 50 other nations to the coastal state. Goa’s tourism department is the principal sponsor for the race this year.
Goa’s focus on sports: Last year, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that it was time for the state to focus on sports tourism. Apart from the Ironman 70.3 India races, the state has also been hosting International Table Tennis Federation’s WTT Star Contender games in India since 2023, and concluded the 2024 edition in January. The 2023 National Games of India tournament was also held in Goa.
Goa tourism minister Rohan Khaunte said earlier this year that incorporating sports into the state’s narrative is meant to add to the development of Goa.
India is planning to consolidate its four flight information regions set up in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai. Instead, it is looking to have one continuous airspace controlled from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Nagpur has been selected due to its central location in the country.
The unified Air Traffic Management would allow for more robust safety measures, minimized flight separations, reduced carbon emissions, and more fuel-efficient flight routes. According to Indian media reports, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) is working on understanding the technology requirements for such a harmonized system.
Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart has expanded the travel offerings on its mobile app, launching bus booking services. The company has partnered with multiple private bus operators and state transport corporations to facilitate this service.
Flipkart already allows customers to book flights, hotels, and holiday packages from its app. The company’s reward points, known as Supercoins, would also be applicable on its bus bookings, it has said in a statement.
Flipkart first forayed into the travel segment in 2018 in a limited manner. In 2019, it launched Flipkart Flights to offer “the entire spectrum of airlines globally” to its customers, and in 2021, it acquired online travel company Cleartrip. In 2022, it launched Flipkart Hotels to offer domestic and international hotel booking services on the Flipkart Android and iOS apps.
Air India has signed an agreement with Bangalore International Airport Limited to develop the airport as an aviation hub in southern
India’s largest bank State Bank of India (SBI) has launched its first-ever travel focused credit card. ‘SBI Card MILES’ has been launched in three variants to cater to different types of travelers, from beginners to frequent flyers.
India recorded a cruise tourism footfall of 470,000 in the 2023-24 financial year – its highest ever. Domestic tourists accounted for nearly 80% of this, as international cruise tourism in India has yet to revive to pre-Covid levels.
More than 81% of the Indian GenZs – aged between 18 and 25 years – start planning their first international trips as soon as they secure a job or receive their first paycheck, online travel agency Skyscanner has revealed in a new report. Indians are historically known to start saving as soon as they are employed and have been conservative with their travel spends. These findings highlight how the youth, especially the growing middle class, is changing the tourism landscape in the country.
Indian travelers have an increased interest in weekend getaways and spiritual tourism, according to online travel agency MakeMyTrip’s first-ever travel trends report. Searches for destinations with or around religious spots increased by 97% in the last two years, the platform stated in the report, which was released on Monday.
India is becoming a convenient hub for travel between Southeast Asia and the Middle East, IndiGo Chairman V Sumantran said during his address at a college in Chennai. He also cited the example of several airlines carrying passengers from places such as Bangkok to Jeddah or Dubai by connecting through Indian cities.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand on Thursday hosted a group of more than 8,000 incentive visitors from India. The delegation is part of the authority’s goal of receiving at least 1.7 million Indian visitors this year, it said in a statement.
Hyatt Hotels definitely has its eyes on India and the focus specifically is on domestic Indian leisure travelers. “The leisure travel market is primarily driven by Indians traveling within India and discovering the country,” said CEO Mark Hoplamazian during his recent visit to the country.
The Indian civil aviation ministry has advised domestic airlines to assess risks before flying on international routes as tensions in the Middle East are growing. The civil aviation regulatory body is working with the airlines and the ministry of external affairs to navigate the situation, civil aviation secretary Vumlunmang Vualnam has said.
The travel and tourism industry in India is projected to generate revenue of nearly $24 billion in 2024, according to industry promotions body India Brand Equity Foundation. At an estimated annual growth rate of 9.6% between 2024 and 2028, the industry is also expected to reach a market volume of $34.25 billion by 2028.
The domestic air passenger traffic in India during the 2023-24 financial year is estimated to stand at 154 million, according to credit rating agency ICRA. This figure surpasses the pre-Covid figure of 142 million domestic air passengers recorded in the 2019-20 financial year. The agency further stated that domestic air passenger traffic witnessed a 13% increase from last year.
“Ninety percent of the success of hotel companies is linked to two things – demography and emerging middle class,” Accor chairman and CEO Sébastien Bazin said at the recent hospitality conference, HICSA 2024. This is especially true for India, he said, which has accounted for 25% of the emerging middle class in the past 10 years.
Corporate travel in India is booming – spending surged nearly 25% in 2023. And online travel companies are ramping up their efforts to profit from it.