Last week saw major moves that will impact tourism in the Mexican Caribbean region.
14.10.2024 - 19:03 / skift.com / Narendra Modi / Bulbul Dhawan
Maldives is now supporting payments through cards running on RuPay, India’s card payment network. The decision was announced this week after talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu.
RuPay is the Indian alternative to Visa and MasterCard. Data by market research firm 1Lattice last year showed that RuPay dominated the debit card market in India. As of last July, over 700 million RuPay cards had been issued across the country.
“The acceptance of Indian Rupees will help Indian tourists to visit Maldives in large numbers,” said Subhash Goyal, chairman of the aviation and tourism committee of the Indian Chamber of Commerce, in a statement.
The decision to introduce RuPay cards came after months of diplomatic tensions between the two nations. Back in January, Modi had promoted Lakshadweep islands on social media, which many took as a move to position the Indian archipelago as an alternative to Maldives.
In response to this, three deputy ministers of Maldives on X used words such as “clown” and “puppet of Israel” to refer to Modi.
The hashtag #BoycottMaldives began trending. Indian travelers to the island nation dropped significantly: dropping from the biggest source market to the sixth place.
The decision to introduce RuPay cards, and eventually, UPI is expected to increase travel spending by Indian tourists due to convenience. As India is becoming a fast-growing source of outbound tourism, destinations are beginning to accept payments made through India’s Unified Payment Interface or UPI.
UPI is a digital payment system designed in India which allows users to carry out bank-to-bank payments through QR codes or mobile numbers without sharing account details. Modi has said that work will soon commence to bring UPI to Maldives.
Last year, France decided to enable Indian tourists to pay for tickets to the Eiffel Tower and other attractions in rupees through UPI. In July 2024, French department store brand Galeries Lafayette also announced the integration of the UPI system at its flagship Haussmann store.
A report by Booking.com and McKinsey last year projected that travel spending by Indians would rise from $150 billion in 2019 to $410 billion by 2030.
As Indians are spending more, there is a preference for digital payments, especially UPI. A study by consulting firm Kearney earlier this year noted that 90% of the respondents it surveyed said they preferred digital payments for online purchases and 50% preferred the mode for in-person purchases. UPI accounted for 68% of all retail digital payments made in the country in 2024 fiscal.
Last week saw major moves that will impact tourism in the Mexican Caribbean region.
Marriott is rewarding its loyal travelers with up to 15 percent off fall and winter weekend getaways across the United States and Canada.
Good morning from Skift. It’s Tuesday, October 15, 2024, and here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Christian Salafia, a former US Navy engineering laboratory technician and cyber and information security consultant who moved from Florida to South Africa in 2021.
On my recent trip to Hanoi, walking through the narrow streets of the Old Quarter, I had no trouble finding comfort food: Indian restaurants were thriving in almost every lane. It was a stark contrast to my visit in 2019, when I struggled to find any.
With Hurricane Milton barreling down on Florida, residents across the state are racing to evacuate their homes and prepare for the powerful storm, which is projected to make landfall on the state’s west coast late on Wednesday night, according to the National Hurricane Center. In addition to putting residents and property at risk, the historic storm is also set to impact travel plans throughout Florida and the Gulf region at large.
Update: October 8, 2024, at 1:40 p.m. ET
It's been one month since the U.S. State Department updated its travel advisory for Mexico, one of the few countries broken down by states rather than an all-encompassing advisory.
Low-cost Breeze Airways has slashed even more fares to dozens of cities across its network for last-minute fall travel.
International hotel group Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is making a fall or winter vacation easier by offering 20 percent or more off a stay, and even bigger savings for rewards members.
Indian online travel company EaseMyTrip has resumed flight bookings to the Maldives. This comes after EaseMyTrip suspended services in January following a diplomatic spat between the two nations.
It's a season of savings for travelers. Spirit Airlines just published dozens of one-way flight deals under $25, including flights to popular destinations including Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, and more. The discount carrier published the offers in the «Popular Flight Deals on Spirit» section of their website, and the fares are available in limited supply with no published end date. All of the fares are in Spirit's «Go» class of service, which only includes one personal item and does not include carry-on or checked bag included in the price. Passengers can add these amenities for an additional cost, or upgrade to a higher fare class where the bags and advanced seat assignment are included. Travel + Leisure spotted a variety of the one-way fares available including: