Skift india report tips

Under a pilot program, Sri Lanka will be issuing free tourist visas through next March to visitors from seven countries: India, China, Russia, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. This initiative is part of Sri Lanka’s broader strategy to revitalize its tourism sector and achieve a target of 5 million arrivals by 2026.

That’s how Kumar opened Booking’s “How India Travels” report release on Wednesday in Delhi, which cited several reasons for the optimism: 

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.

India is expected to overtake Germany to become the world’s third most powerful travel and tourism market by 2032, according to World Travel and Tourism Council’s Economic Impact Research.

Oyo disclosed on Friday that it is reducing the size of its proposed initial public offering to between $400-$600 million, a steep reduction from its plan to value the offering at $1.1 billion, a source close to the company told Skift. Oyo pre-filed its draft red herring prospectus on Friday with the Indian stock market.

Radisson Hotel Group announced on Wednesday that it would be debuting its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection in India with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad.

Indian low-cost carrier GoFirst filed for bankruptcy with the National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday, citing mounting losses due to the grounding of almost half of its aircraft.

Indian low-cost carrier GoFirst’s recent filing of voluntary insolvency resolution proceedings is unlikely to have a large impact on the market, said Rajesh Magow, co-founder, group CEO and director of online travel agency MakeMyTrip.

Tree of Life Resorts and Hotels, a boutique property chain from India, has seen impressive growth from just five properties pre-Covid to 13 properties currently, with the 14th property opening next month.

International leisure flight bookings from India have increased by 40 percent for trips between June and August compared to the same period in 2022, according to travel solutions provider RateGain. In its latest Pulse report powered by Adara, RateGain said this represents the highest level of outbound leisure flight bookings from India in the post-Covid years, even as demand is still 15-20 percent lower than highs in 2019.

India’s aviation security regulator – Bureau of Civil Aviation Security – has been deploying new-age security systems at airports across the country, including 3D perimeter security equipment, biometric-based access control and surveillance systems. “We are creating a dedicated special force for aviation security and a program for pre-verification of passengers for faster processing,” said Zulfiquar Hasan, director general of the regulator. Speaking at a webinar on ‘Aviation Security Trends and Insights: A Focus on India’ organized by International Air Transport Association, Hasan highlighted the success of DigiYatra, which allows biometric boarding using facial recognition technology to establish the flier’s identity. First launched in December 2022, the facility is now available at Delhi, Varanasi and Bengaluru airports, with the most recent one introduced at Kolkata airport. For Indian airlines, aviation overview, terrorism and travel warnings are key considerations to strategize on aviation security, the global airlines body said. It cited a transparent risk-based oversight and security management system as essential to ensuring that measures are being applied where vulnerability is assessed to be at its greatest point. “Given new-age emerging threats like cyber hijacking and drones, security and infrastructure at airports need to be modernized,” added Hasan. He also called congestion a serious security challenge as it leads to an “increase in the density of unchecked passengers with unchecked luggage.” In December 2022, several passengers complained of unending queues at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, leading to many missing their flights. Hasan said that the issue is now being addressed at all major airports in the country. India has also been mulling a unified security force for all its airportsakin to the Transportation Security Administration of the U.S., which will combine immigration and customs. 

Radisson Hotel Group has signed 11 new hotels in Indiaacross brands between January and April this year. The hotels are located across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Ujjain, Raipur, Sonamarg, Manali, Kerala and Visakhapatnam. In April, the group also announced the debut in India of its luxury lifestyle brand, Radisson Collection, with the signing of the first hotel in Hyderabad— the 300-room Radisson Collection Hotel Hyderabad Financial District is set to be operational by the second quarter of 2026. Further strengthening its partnership with Ruptub Solutions — which operates India’s Treebo brand of hotels — the group also signed three new hotels under its Park Inn & Suites by Radisson brand in the south Indian states of Bengaluru and Kerala. Park Inn & Suites by Radisson Thrissur will open in the second quarter of 2024, Park Inn & Suites by Radisson Wayanad Ambalavayal is expected to open in the first quarter of 2024 and Park Inn & Suites by Radisson Yelahanka in Bengaluru will also open doors in the first quarter of 2024. “2023 marks a significant milestone for us at Radisson Hotel Group as we have successfully completed our 25-year journey in the Indian market. To translate our ambitious five-year expansion plan, we have signed 11 new hotels since January and have a strong pipeline ahead for this year,” said Zubin Saxena, managing director and area senior vice president, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group. Last month, the group introduced its ‘Skip to Rewards,’ campaign showcasing the new benefits members can access as part of the recently relaunched Radisson Rewards loyalty program. 

Airfares in India have been soaring this year and a new report confirms the trend.

Singapore Airlines has refuted a media report saying it may raise its stake in Tata Group-owned Air India from the 25.1 percent which it secured as part of the group’s Vistara merger to create a bigger full-service national carrier. “The Mint story dated 16 June 2023 is incorrect. There (is) no change in SIA’s position from the November 2022 announcement,” Singapore Airlines said. Singapore’s state carrier’s statement was in response to a report by Indian daily Mint, which said the carrier had expressed its desire to gradually raise its stake in the Indian airline to about 40 percent. The media report, citing three people familiar with the development, stated Singapore Airlines and the Tata Group have had initial talks regarding the potential increase in stake. 

The U.S. will open new consulates in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad while India will establish a mission in Seattle and two other locations in the U.S. Currently, India has five consulates in the U.S.: New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Houston and Atlanta, apart from the embassy in Washington. Visa delays are the single biggest impediment to growth in travel between the two countries. The two new consulates could help expedite the Indian visa application process, which the U.S. State Department now considers a “top priority.”

India-based budget hotel operator and aggregator Oyo said it will add over 1,000 hotels to support over 100 first-generation hoteliers’ growthby December this year as part of its accelerator program. The company launched the program in March with a target of supporting 50 first-generation hoteliers. Hotel owners with more than five running hotels are eligible to be a part of the program. 

Indians say they still plan on traveling — but 9 in 10 in a recent survey said the increased costs of living will influence their plans for 2023. That might mean choosing cheaper destinations or non-peak travel periods.

India’s outbound tourism is expected to reach $44.7 billion by 2032, according to a report titled ‘Unlock the Potential: A Look into Outbound Tourism’ by Nangia Andersen, in association with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The report also highlighted the recommendations for growing the future of outbound tourism, which include tax rebates, collaboration with destinations and airlines, streamlining visa processes, among other ideas.

Indian online travel platform EaseMyTrip.com is reinforcing its non-air business by planning to acquire a 51% stake in three travel companies in India.

India’s tourism industry has been posting strong growth in recent years, positioning itself as a significant player in outbound travel and a competitor to China.