Amrita Ghosh travel tips

Airbnb hosts in India collectively made over $12 million from bookings with families last year. Indian family travel on the short-term rental site grew by over 90 percent in 2022 compared to pre-pandemic in 2019, according to a new report released by the company. Most families booked Airbnb listings because of the value and space compared to hotel rooms — with the top-booked categories being near a national park, a pool, near a beach and lake house. Goa, Bengaluru, Karnataka, Pune, Hyderabad, Dehradun, Jaipur, Raigarh, Ernakulam, New Delhi and Nainital were the most preferred family travel destinations in India. Globally, Indians have been traveling to London, Toronto and Dubai for a family getaway. “Families are spending more on domestic as well as international travel and are more willing to support local communities and small businesses. We are glad to see the multiplier effect Airbnb delivers on the local communities as it creates meaningful earning opportunities for those considering hosting on the platform,” said Amanpreet Bajaj, general manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan for Airbnb. The company recently partnered with Sheroes — a New Delhi-based women’s networking and enabling platform — to grow its community of women hosts in India. Under the partnership, Airbnb will launch a digital content and training program for six months, which will be accessible on relevant Sheroes community channels. This collaboration will provide training to support members of the social platform who are interested in hosting on Airbnb to harness their passion for hospitality, as well as enable more women in India to travel the world independently. 

Occupancy in Indian hotels is expected to improve to 66 percent in 2023, according to hospitality research firm HVS Anarock’s latest report. India’s hospitality sector ended 2022 with occupancy in the 59-61 percent range, up 15-17 percentage points from the previous year, the report said. Average room rates recovered fully in 2022, crossing 2021 levels by 37-39 percent and revenue per available room in 2022 increased by 89-91 percent over the previous year. Some 166 new hotels with 14,885 rooms were signed in 2022, indicating a 33 percent increase in brand signings by keys over the previous year. “We expect India-wide occupancy to improve to 66 percent in 2023, which coupled with a 16-17 percent increase in average room rates will push revenue per available room to $57 during the year, almost 18 percent higher than the pre-pandemic level recorded in 2019,” said Mandeep Singh Lamba president of South Asia at HVS Anarock.

Before the pandemic, solo travelers accounted for roughly a third of hotel bookings by inbound travelers. But a push for social interaction and India’s growing reputation as a couples getaway has since led families and couples to take a majority share of inbound bookings, according to travel tech firm RateGain Travel Technologies’ India Inbound Travel Trends report. Family hotel bookings have increased from 4 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to 10.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023. France and Spain are the top origins for families visiting India. Solo bookings have significantly declined in recent years — from 41.6 percent in the first quarter of 2019 to only 6.6 percent in the first quarter of 2023. The report studies travelers’ behavior from nine countries, including the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Germany and France. We wonder where the inbound business travelers have gone. Here’s another startling statistic from the RateGain report: the share of female travelers visiting India from developed countries has increased to 49 percent over the past five years. While the share was a little more than 33 percent of all travelers between January and March 2018, it rose by 50 percent to occupy 49 percent of the total share of international travelers between January and March 2023.

The U.S. aims to increase visa interview appointments for Indian students by 30 percent this summer, said U.S. Consul General Mike Hankey during his recent visit to the country. “Last year, we sent more than 1.25 lakh Indian students to the U.S., setting a new record for Indian students going to the U.S. in a year and establishing India as the leading country of sending students. This year we are trying to increase that number (of students) further,” he told news agency Press Trust of India. In another development, the U.S. visitor visa wait times in India dropped by 50 percent — from an average of 669 days in mid-March to 337 days in early April — according to the U.S. Travel Association. The industry lobby group attributed the wait time reduction to the U.S. State Department’s initiatives this year to reduce the visa backlog, such as bringing processing staff in on weekends, making overseas embassies available to Indian nationals in other countries and hiring more staff. Applicants in India had an especially absurd wait time. In January, for example, they had to wait 999 days for an interview at the Mumbai embassy. 

India plans to open up to 50 new tourism destinations, promote green tourism, launch a publicity campaign in overseas markets and operationalize 59 new air routes during its presidency of the G20 this year, said Arvind Singh, secretary at the ministry of tourism. “India’s tourism sector is showing one of the strongest recoveries in the Asia Pacific region. Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the country registered 6.19 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2022 — a growth of 305 percent as compared to 1.52 million in 2021,” he said while speaking at the G20 Tourism Expo held in the north Indian state of Rajasthan. “We have recommended 59 new routes to the ministry of civil aviation under the regional air connectivity scheme which has been successful. Of this, 51 routes are already operational,” Singh added. The government is pushing green initiatives to promote responsible tourism in the country and authorities plan to ensure small businesses have the resources for green investments and to create local jobs. 

Potentially IPO-bound budget hotel operator and aggregator Oyo’s U.S. business has recorded a 48 percent revenue growth from bookings on its own platforms — such as the app, website, mobile web and call centers — in the fourth quarter of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. While Oyo’s app generated 99 percent growth, revenue from bookings via the company’s call centers reported a 59 percent surge for the quarter. Earlier this month, Oyo had announced its plans to add more than 100 hotels in the U.S. this year across the states of Oregon, Washington, Oklahoma, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, its fastest-growing state. This is nearly double the number of hotels the company added to its portfolio in 2022. “While bookings through online travel agents such Booking.com and Expedia Group play an important role in increasing revenues for our hotel partners, direct demand through Oyo’s own platforms leads to better margins for our hoteliers,” said Gautam Swaroop, chief executive of Oyo International. Swaroop added that the company experienced a 3x growth in app conversions and 2x growth in conversions from the call center using price optimizations and by creating operational efficiencies, performance management and better incentive structures in the organization. An earlier Skift report had mentioned that Oyo is likely to launch the initial public offering around the Indian festival of Diwali in November, once it gets the approval from India’s capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India.

Indian conglomerate Tata Group has sought fair-trade regulator Competition Commission of India‘s approval for a merger between its Air India and Vistara — the company’s joint venture with Singapore Airlines — into a single full service carrier called Air India. This is separate from the already underway (and regulator-approved) merger of Air India Express and Air Asia India into a single low cost carrier, named Air India Express. Tata would hold 51 percent of the total equity of the merged entity while Singapore Airlines would own a 25.1 percent minority stake, according to a filing on the regulator’s website. Air India would also absorb all Vistara employees. Vistara currently has about 5,103 employees, and around 80 percent are operational staff, including pilots, cabin crew and engineers. The merger, announced in November last year, would create a stronger rival to India’s dominant carrier IndiGo and help Singapore Airlines solidify its foothold in one of the world’s fastest-growing aviation markets. Air India recently placed a mega order for 470 aircraft from Boeing and Airbus as it plans to become a dominant player globally. 

Nearly 97 percent of Indian travelers intend to make greener travel decisions over the coming 12 months, according to Booking.com’s annual Sustainable Travel Report. Amid rising climate anxiety, Indian travelers say they are making conscious accommodation and transport choices with 83 percent of respondents feeling that doing so would help protect the planet for future generations. Now in its eighth year, the research highlights a dilemma where people are forced to choose between affordability and making sustainable travel choices. Around 84 percent of Indians think the global energy crisis and rising cost of living are impacting their spending plans. Nearly two-thirds of them (66 percent) believe sustainable travel options are too expensive, while 80 percent are willing to pay more for sustainable travel options to feel reassured they are driving impact. “India has emerged as one of the top 10 countries with 20,000 properties now being recognized for their sustainability efforts on Booking.com. We are listening and together with our partners across the industry, we are examining every part of the trip to not only support our travelers but also benefit local communities and environment,” said Santosh Kumar, country manager of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com. The report is based on insights gathered from more than 33,000 travelers across 35 countries and territories.  

India generated Asia’s highest outbound travel volume for the first time in 2022, with foreign trips exceeding those of China, South Korea, and Japan, as per tourism consultancy and research firm IPK International’s World Travel Monitor findings. An earlier Skift report had mentioned that the time is ripe for India — which already ticks most of the boxes as a suitable candidate to take over from China as the largest travel source market. With around 10 million foreign trips, the country registered a 190 percent year-on-year rise in outbound travel last year — which is significantly higher than the average global increase of 90 percent. India’s favorite travel destination in 2022 was Dubai, followed by the U.S., Thailand, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Overall, around 70 percent of Indian travelers undertook trips in Asia, which increased by more than 250 percent compared with the previous year’s figures. According to IPK’s Destination Performance Index, Thailand, Abu Dhabi, and Dubai were India’s preferred travel destinations in 2022 — based on travel satisfaction, recommendations, and the desire to revisit a destination. Among trip types, round trips ranked first with a market share of around 30 percent, followed by city breaks at 26 percent and sun and beach holidays at around 20 percent. Business trips comprised about a quarter of foreign travel, with meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions market accounting for over 70 percent of business travel in India.

A revival in domestic air travel to nearly pre-pandemic level propelled India to the big leagues of major aviation markets, according to the trade body, the International Air Transport Association’s latest market analysis report. Domestic travel in India missed the pre-Covid level by 2.2 percent in February 2023 in terms of passenger revenue kilometers, the study said. The country also emerged as the top domestic market in terms of passenger load factor — which studies how efficiently an airline fills seats and generates revenue — when compared to countries such as the U.S., China and Japan, the report said. India recorded passenger load factors of 81.6 percent in February, 85.2 percent in January, 88.9 percent in December 2022, and 87.9 percent in November 2022. Domestic air passenger traffic for all markets measured for February surged 25.2 percent over the year-ago period. Besides aircraft manufacturers, international airlines too are eyeing the growth potential of the Indian aviation market. Just last week, Hungary budget carrier Wizz Air’s CEO Jozsef Varadi said India is a growing opportunity. Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is another airline that is planning to expand its capacity in the country, as it looks to drive 20 percent growth from India in the next year, the airline’s CEO Antonoaldo Neves said during his recent visit to the country.

India’s domestic air traffic has hit a record high with 456,082 passengers flying on a single day, the civil aviation ministry said in a tweet. The ministry’s data shows a total of 456,082 passengers flew via 2,978 flights on April 30 and there were a total of 5,947 flight movements. “Indian domestic air travel hits new high, surpasses pre-Covid average,” it tweeted. The ministry referenced the May 1 numbers, said 448,248 passengers had taken to the skies via 2,936 flights. The rebound in India’s aviation industry comes after heavy losses faced by the industry in the past Covid-hit years. The global airline trade body, the International Air Transport Association’s latest market analysis report shows India is in the process of becoming a key global aviation market outpacing other thriving markets like the U.S., China, and Japan in passenger load factor at 81.6 percent in February 2023. With India’s air passenger traffic expected to reach 395 million in 2023-24, the country seems to have solidified its position as the world’s third largest aviation market. Credit rating agency ICRA had also recently revised its outlook on the Indian aviation industry to stable from negative due to the fast-paced recovery in domestic passenger traffic. Indian airlines have witnessed an annual growth of 51.7 percentin passenger traffic during January-March 2023 as compared to the corresponding period last year, according to Indian aviation watchdog Directorate General of Civil Aviation. Domestic airlines carried 375.04 lakh passengers between January-March 2023, as against 247.23 lakh in the same period last year. 

Online travel company MakeMyTrip is rolling out a voice chat service powered by artificial intelligence (AI), becoming the country’s second major company after Tata-owned Air India to harness recent advances in generative AI. Last month, the airline said it is using GPT4 — the latest version of the revolutionary chatbot ChatGPT — to improve its FAQ section, pilot briefings, and more. MakeMyTrip will use Microsoft’s Azure Open AI technology for the chat, initially available in English and Hindi, the company said in a statement. The voice assistant will appear on the company’s mobile app and the front page of its travel site and is designed to help users book flights and holidays. “This Generative AI integration through our collaboration with Microsoft involves simple visual cues and voice commands in native Indian languages that will alter the landscape of travel bookings henceforth,” said Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip. The interface will analyze specific user requirements and sift through thousands of options to recommend more relevant holiday packages. For example, it can summarize hotel reviews and extract individual traveler impressions. The goal is to elevate the hotel booking experience by offering personalized and relevant information to the user without having to scroll through multiple reviews. 

The Indian Association of Tour Operators has requested the government to restore duty credit via the Service Export Incentive Scheme or introduce an alternative in the new foreign trade policy, as the country’s inbound tourism remains sluggish. The association also urged a rollback of the 5-20 percent tax — insisting that it be brought back to 5 percent or lower — which is collected at source on overseas tour packages announced in the Union Budget, effective July 2023. The hike in tax would hit the Indian outbound tour operators hard, as travelers could bypass them and book outside the country, causing losses for both the government and operators. In a letter to the government, association President Rajiv Mehra highlighted how the pandemic severely affected the tourism industry, with only 30-40 percent of inbound tourism to India having returned since international flights and tourist visas were revived. He also highlighted the challenges of competing with other countries due to high goods and services tax rates, the withdrawal of marketing and promotion activities in foreign countries, and the lack of alternative benefits, indicative of the stress the sector is reeling under. 

India-based online travel platform EaseMyTrip opened its first offline retail store in Patna in the north Indian state of Bihar, it announced through an exchange filing. The move is aligned with the company’s expansion plans and objective of tapping customers who prefer ‘meet and greet’ kind of an experience. The store will offer services like flight and hotel bookings, purchasing bus, train and group fare tickets, and availing holiday, cruise and charter packages, along with the add-on services of visa application and related formalities. In another development, the company has also announced its renewal of a long-term contract with travel technology provider InterGlobe Technology Quotient for seamless access to Travelport+ (1G), a travel commerce platform for booking tickets. EaseMyTrip stands to gain a sum of $12.2 million over a term of agreement which it could further utilize for its inorganic growth and global expansion. 

The national security advisors of India, U.S., the United Arab Emirates, and the Saudi Crown Prince met in Riyadh. They discussed ways to develop a joint infrastructure that connects Gulf and Arab countries via a railway network and also extends to India via shipping lanes. The White House issued a statement that the advisors met in Riyadh to “advance their shared vision of a more secure and prosperous Middle East region interconnected with India and the world,” American news website Axios reported. The Indian and UAE authorities did not issue separate readouts publicly. India is particularly keen to participate in the project to build a brand as an infrastructure builder in the railway sector. Boasting a strong rail network at home and buoyed by the success of creating such infrastructure in Sri Lanka, India has the confidence to do it overseas. It wants private and public sector enterprises to explore the region’s potential economic and infrastructure opportunities. Moreover, India’s connectivity with its Western neighbors could be enhanced as it can use shipping routes to reach West Asian ports such as Chabahar and Bandar-e-Abbas (Iran), Duqm (Oman), Dubai (UAE), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Kuwait City. According to the Axios report, the idea for the railway project germinated at the I2U2 forum — which includes the U.S., Israel, the UAE and India — established in late 2021 to discuss strategic infrastructure projects in West Asia.

Tata Group-owned Air India’s low-cost carrier subsidiary Air India Express has hired over 280 pilots and 250 cabin crew during a recent recruitment drive conducted across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. Approximately 300 pilots participated in the selection process conducted during the drive, the airline said. Air India Express said it has been actively focusing on strengthening its workforce since October last year, targeting vacancies for pilots and cabin crew members. In addition to the major metros, the airline has also been conducting walk-in recruitment drives in other cities and towns for cabin crew aspirants to meet the growing demand of its operations. Mainline carrier Air India also recently announced that it would be hiring more than 1,000 pilots, including captains and trainers, to support its fleet expansion plans. Air India Express’ hiring move comes during a turbulent period as crisis-hit carrier Go First becomes the second airline — after Jet Airways — in the past three years to halt operations. Recently, Go First was granted bankruptcy protection after it plunged into a financial crisis, sparked by what it called “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines that grounded about half of its 54 Airbus A320neos.

Investments in India’s hospitality industry are likely to surpass $2.3 billion over the next two to five years, with the addition of approximately 12,000 hotel rooms in 2023 alone. Real estate consulting firm CBRE South Asia’s report, Indian Hospitality Sector: On a Comeback Trail, predicts that the hotel room numbers are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of around 3.3 percent by 2025. Last month, three international hotel chains announced the debut of their luxury brands in the country. Hilton’s Waldorf Astoria and Minor Hotels’ Anantara brand are set to make their India debut in Jaipur, while Radisson has picked Hyderabad for the launch of itsRadisson Collection brand. The study further suggests that demand recovery is likely to outpace supply, benefiting key performance metrics of the hotel sector — such as occupancy rates, average daily rates, and revenue per available room — that are expected to surpass pre-pandemic levels in the coming year. For instance, occupancy in Indian hotels is expected to improve to 66 percent this year, according to hospitality research firm HVS Anarock’s latest report. India’s hospitality sector ended 2022 with occupancy in the 59-61 percent range — up 15-17 percentage points from the previous year, and a 94 percent growth in revenue per available room in 2022 compared with 2021. Some 166 new hotels with 14,885 rooms were signed in 2022, which is a 33 percent increase in brand signings by keys over the previous year. The government’s continued focus on reforms is also expected to further enhance the sector’s growth, with projections indicating that India’s tourism and hospitality sector may earn $50.9 billion in visitor exports by 2028, the CBRE report stated. 

Indian bankruptcy court National Company Law Tribunal has granted bankruptcy protection to cash-strapped airline Go First and a full moratorium on its assets and leases. The order prevents the airline’s lessors — some of which include Sky High XCV Leasing, ACG Aircraft Leasing Ireland, and SMBC Aviation Capital — from taking back aircraft. “This is a historic ruling as an application of insolvency has been admitted so fast. The order prevents a viable airline from becoming an unviable one. The purpose of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code has always been revival,” said Go First CEO Kaushik Khona. This means there are chances that the airline might end up protecting some of its assets under the bankruptcy code to ensure its survival, as all its assets and properties remain as it is till the completion of the bankruptcy. The tribunal, in its order, said that an interim resolution professional would take over the airline management with immediate effect. The current operation of the airline’s 27 aircraft is also expected to continue and no employee of the company would be laid off, the Indian tribunal ordered. Earlier this month, the airline filed for bankruptcy, blaming “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its fleet.

Using reusable water bottles or shopping bags, traveling outside of peak season and opting for walking, biking, or taking public transport are only some of the ways in which Indian travelers are integrating sustainability into their vacation planning, reveals Booking.com’s latest Sustainable Travel Report. In a bid to save water, 55 percent of travelers reuse their towels multiple times, up 21 percent from 2022. As more travelers are swearing by the ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ mantra, 57 percent of them brought their own reusable water bottles, up by 12 percent since 2022; 52 percent of individuals are utilizing reusable bags; and 44 percent recycle garbage while traveling. When it comes to transportation, 51 percent of Indian travelers now plan their sightseeing which allows them to walk, use bicycles or take public transportation. Looking to further reduce their impact, 41 percent decide to go off-peak to avoid overcrowding, up 5 percent since 2022. Additionally, the ‘buy local’ ideology is gaining popularity amongst travelers on vacation with 52 percent respondents favoring small, independent stores. “To help travelers in their sustainability journey, Booking.com has taken measures to help not only travelers but also local communities and the environment. This includes awarding thousands of properties in India and globally with the Travel Sustainable Badge, the ability to compare the CO2 emissions for different flight options or being able to find and book greener taxi options,” said Santosh Kumar, country manager of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com. 

Marriott International has announced the launch of its apartment-style accommodations with Marriott Executive Apartments, Navi Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra. This is the brand’s second such serviced apartments with upscale residential extended-stay units in the city after Lakeside Chalet. Located within 45 minutes from the Mumbai airport, the 129 modern apartments include standard rooms, studios, junior suites, one-bedroom apartments and a presidential suite. “We are pleased to announce the opening of our second Marriott Executive Apartments in Mumbai, catering to the new segment of ‘bleisure’ travelers looking to mix business and leisure travel by creating a ‘home from home’ feeling for their longer stays,” said Ranju Alex, area vice president of South Asia at Marriott International. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, who visited India last month, said the country is witnessing strong traction for branded residential properties. Earlier this year, Marriott International launched its Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy — a curated collection of home rentals — in the country for which the brand is in talks with professional management companies and is looking to launch about 500 units in 2023. “The launch of Homes & Villas, allowed us to keep our customers within the Bonvoy ecosystem and it’s not coincidental that we saw our volume of listings grow more than 20-fold over the two years of the pandemic,” Capuano said, adding that 2020 and 2021 were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business.

Global aviation leasing watchdog Aviation Working Group — that monitors leasing and financing laws on behalf of planemakers and lessors — has placed India on a watchlist with a negative outlook. Citing India’s failure to comply with international aircraft repossession norms after cash-strapped airline Go First was granted bankruptcy protection, the UK-based entity’s outlook falls under the Cape Town Convention, an international treaty on plane repossessions. India’s score has been reduced to 3 from 3.5 earlier. The move could translate into higher leasing costs for other Indian carriers. India’s inability to process deregistration applications for aircraft, whose leases got terminated before a freeze was imposed, resulted in a negative outlook, the watchdog said in a notice. Go First’s lessors include SMBC Aviation Capital, CDB Aviation’s GY Aviation Leasing, Jackson Square Aviation and Bank of China Aviation. The inability to repossess Go First’s planes in a timely manner comes as Indian air travel is booming and local carriers, which regularly turn to lessors to help finance plane purchases, have ordered hundreds of new jets. Go First filed for bankruptcy protection last week, blaming “faulty” Pratt & Whitney engines for the grounding of about half its 54 Airbus A320neos. The airline is only the latest — after the failures of Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines — struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly competitive market.