A Strong Economy Has Nations Vying To Lure Indian Tourists

Are you still waiting for that US or Schengen visa? Are you wondering if you will get it in time for the Christmas and New Year holidays?

They are among the countries banking on Indian travellers looking to ease their entry. A McKinsey study released Thursday shows that globetrotters from India are set to give relative economic prosperity and growing prosperity for international travel. "If India follows China's outbound travel trajectory, then Indian tourists could make 80 to 90 million trips a year by 2040," said the report, From India to the world: Unleashing the Potential of India's tourists.

Between November 10 and May 10, Thailand announced that Indian travellers would not require visas. "We want more travellers to visit Thailand," Tourism Authority of Thailand. "In 2022, we received 965994 Indian tourists. This year, from January 1 to October 31, we received 2.4 million in 2024 from the country. "Flights frequency and capacity have been increased by 24% and 19% respectively this year compared to last year," said Alhasan Aldeburgh, president of APAC markets at the Saudi Tourism Authority. "We have opened eight Tasheer offices in India to accelerate the visa process for Indian visitors. Indian passport holders with UK, US and Schengen visas that have been sued at least once can now apply for a Saudi e-visa online". The total trip spending of Indian tourists to Australia for the year ended in June touched Rs 12,000 crore, an increase of 24% from that in the year ended in June 2019, he said. "With the application process being completely digitised, we have also seen the Department of Home Affairs offering faster processing timelines for high-quality visa lodgements and for well travelled Indian citizens," he said. "The absence of biometrics and no physical assessments required have become a huge advantage."

Turkiye has solidified its position as a premier destination for weddings and holidays for Indian travellers with convenient direct flights, according to the Turkish Tourism Authorities. "The number of Indian tourists that Turkiye has welcomed in the first nine months of this year is 199,966". "We are optimistic about breaking previous records by hosting a substantial number of visitors this year." Sri Lanka's cabinet has approved free visas to visitors from India, China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand as a pilot project till March 31. "From 2023 till September this year, we got one million tourists. Indians comprised 20% of the arrivals. This is a big achievement," said Jude Marsalin, Sri Lanka Tourism's Indian market officer. Marsalin said participation in roadshows in Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, and other travel events has helped raise awareness. "Bookings to Resplendent Ceylon from India have increased significantly over the last five years despite the periodic hiccups with Covid and the economic crises in Sri Lanka. We have seen a 140% increase in revenue versus

the same period last year," said Malik J Fernando, managing director of Resplendent Ceylon, a collection of boutique Relais and Chateaux resorts. Starting August 1, Russia issued electronic visas to Indian passport holders. India recorded over 140% increase in visa applications last year over 2021, per Prabuddha Sen, chief operating officer of South Asia at VFS Global.

"With Covid restrictions and geopolitical sensitivities in some markets, many global destinations want to attract travellers from the country," he said. "Some destinations such as Indonesia and Azerbaijan rolled out customised e-visa solutions for many nationalities including Indian nationals." As per the McKinsey study in 2019, Kolkata was the only city in India with direct connectivity to Vietnam, and three other Indian cities offered sporadic flights. That has changed. "To stand out from South East Asian neighbours and gain popularity with Indian travellers, Vietnam improved direct connectivity from India by increasing flight frequency and adding new routes. Indian arrivals are now at an all-time high," the study stated.

Indians are travelling like never before, said Rajeeb Kale, president and country head for holidays, MICE and visas at Thomas Cook. The company has seen a 200% surge in demand for the January-June period this year versus the year earlier. “A range of attractive destinations have emerged on their radar with the launch of direct flights to Vietnam, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan," Kale said. He cited new routes and increased connectivity on short-haul routes such as Bhubaneshwar Singapore, Bangkok Kolkata, Kochi Ho Chi Minh City and longer ones such as IndiGo's new Mumbai Nairobi and Delhi Tashkent flights. Daniel D Souza, president and country head for holidays at SOTC Travel, said SOTC has seen a robust growth of 227% for outbound travel between January and June this year versus last year. "This significant growth is emerging not only from India's metro and mini metros but also regional India's tier two and three cities given rising disposable incomes coupled with the aspirational value of holidays," he added. “Despite the waiting time of over 500 days for a new US visa, we have 200 applicants queuing up. The waiting time for some Schengen visas is about two months," said Vijay Kesavan, founder and CEO of StampThePassport. "The easing of requirements by some Asian countries should nudge a few more in the region and in Eastern Europe to capitalise on this opportunity."

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