Trevolution Has Good News for India's Inbound Industry

Low-cost carrier IndiGois set to be the first airline partner for India’s new Noida International Airportwhen it begins its first phase of operations by the end of next year. 

Earlier this year, I went to Mumbai, India. I've been traveling to India annually to visit family since I can remember, and as I got older, began to visit my best friend from college.

India’s accommodation sector remains upbeat about its economic development, despite a sluggish inbound travel recovery. The sector has been reporting rising room and occupancy rates over the past six months.

A foreign film shooting in India will now be able to claim up to 40% of the expenditure incurred (in India) with the maximum limit capped at INR 300 million ($4 million). An additional five percent bonus will be given for “significant Indian content.”

From January up until the end of September 2023, Spain received 66.5 million international arrivals, up 18.8% year-on-year, and 0.6% below pre-pandemic levels in 2019. The main inbound tourism markets were the United Kingdom, representing around 13.8 million arrivals, France with almost 9.4 million arrivals and Germany, with almost 8.5 million arrivals.

After Sri Lanka and Thailand, Vietnam is likely to be the next destination to offer visa-free entry to Indians. According to local media, Vietnam Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung suggested it allow Indians and Chinese to visit without a visa for a short period. As of now, only nationals of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland can enter Vietnam without a visa.

The stage is set for the grand finale of the Cricket World Cup, where two cricketing giants — India and Australia — are poised to clash this Sunday in a battle that promises to be nothing short of monumental.

An American woman has divided TikTok with a video calling all British food "terrible" after she said she was shown around by locals and enjoyed almost nothing she ate. While many fellow tourists agreed with her, a number of British people have hit back, saying she went to the wrong places and ate the wrong food. 

For over ten years, the Jaipur, India-based brothers and founders of Trunks Company, Priyank and Paritosh Mehta, have been on a mission to revive the steamer trunk and support local artists who make them. This week, they’ll be exhibiting 11 of the most ornate examples of the company’s work at the Salon Art + Design fair at thePark Avenue Armory, from a library trunk with quilted leather lining that’s embedded with speakers and lit with LED spotlights to a hand-painted red, white and navy blue Games Island Trunk that unfolds to become a tiny casino featuring amusements like Jenga, poker and chess. About a dozen craftspeople work two to three months on each of the trunks, which are meant to be statement pieces in a home rather than accompanying their owners on a trip, says Paritosh. “We’ve been commissioned to craft a trunk in the shape of the Taj Mahal Palace by the hotel, and to make a trunk for a collector to display his watch collection,” he says. “We’re building a whole lifestyle around heritage trunks.” Next year, though, the company plans to debut its most practical collection to date: hand-painted trunks with wheels that one can actually travel with.

Eighteen months ago, when the New York-based T writer at large Aatish Taseer began planning his reporting trips for this month’s three-part feature story — an exploration of religious travel in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq — he was already well acquainted with the idea of pilgrimage. His first book, the 2009 memoir “Stranger to History,” opens with what is arguably the world’s best-known faith-motivated journey, the hajj to Mecca, and ends with what he describes as a personal pilgrimage to meet his estranged father in Pakistan. In Delhi, India, where Taseer grew up, quick trips for the purpose of worship were commonplace. “People would do a pilgrimage on an ordinary Sunday,” he says, “instead of going to an amusement park.”

As India’s outbound travel market gears up to reach $45 billion by 2032, there is a growing focus on high-spending travelers coming from the country.

Excitement is building as we draw closer to Skift India Summit, set to take place in Delhi next year on March 19-20. For the inaugural event, we’ve curated an exceptional lineup of speakers who promise to offer valuable insights and expertise in the travel industry.