The growing YOLO (You Only Live Once) mindset, coupled with a desire for immersive outdoor experiences, is driving demand, primarily across age groups from 20 to 45 years.
Travel firms expect package prices to rise by 5 to 10 per cent, depending on destination and inclusions.
Taking a serious note of the situation, the civil aviation ministry said it has invoked regulatory powers to ensure fair and reasonable fares across all affected routes.
'We expect inbound numbers in 2025 to come close to pre-pandemic levels -- if not fully match them -- by early 2026.'
DGCA provided temporary relief to IndiGo, which is partially owned by Rahul Bhatia, by rolling back the night duty definition to 12 am-5 am from 12 am-6 am earlier, and allowing its pilots to do six night-landings from two earlier, besides other relaxations.
'Tourists from long-haul markets such as the US, UK, and Western Europe are especially sensitive to such news, and short-term cancellations or postponements of planned trips can be expected.'
4.5 million weddings are expected across India.
While wellness-related facilities and activities used to be considered luxury offerings, hospitality industry executives note that it has now become a mainstream expectation among guests.
'The Pahalgam terror attacks and the conflict that followed were a big blow to local tourism.' 'And just when things were starting to go back to normal, the floods, caused by heavy rain, spoiled all chances of a bounce-back this season.'
Strong demand for cultural and spiritual hubs is expected for destinations like Varanasi, Kolkata during Durga Puja, and Pushkar for the camel fair, besides leisure destinations like Goa, Udaipur, Jaipur and Coorg.
Travellers are keen to explore traditional Indian arts and crafts like Madhubani painting in Bihar, pottery and weaving workshops in Rajasthan, or Kathakali and Kalaripayattu training in Kerala.
'Countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines have a 50 per cent increase in bookings.'
Air India has cancelled eight flights, including four international services, on Friday due to enhanced maintenance and operational reasons, the airline said.
'...than by the calendar.' Indian travellers are no longer restricting their getaways to summer or winter holidays.
Tourists hesitant to visit America due to frequent policy changes there.
During this summer, Indian travel buffs are opting for destinations that provide an escape from the ominous heat, along with coastal regions within the country and countries offering visa-free travel.
Many travellers are now opting for domestic destinations like Goa, Kerala, Rajasthan, Lakshadweep, Himachal Pradesh, and the North East.
'We used to get 400-500 applications for Canada on a yearly basis until last year, but this has gone down to just 70 this year.'
One effective solution is to lower luxury taxes. The tourism ministry has requested the finance ministry and the Planning Commission to work with state governments on this, but no one knows when any results will come, if ever. Another solution is to introduce no-frills, clean and functional budget hotels.
'The past few quarters have seen prohibitive fares for advance bookings, only to dip closer to departure.'
Hospitality players want the government to accord infrastructure status to hotels to make investments on new properties more attractive rather than categorising them as luxury or even 'sin goods' in the upcoming Union Budget considering the sector's potential to play a key role in India's growth. They also want the government to consider incentives in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, while asserting that the upcoming budget must accelerate the tourism agenda saying it is an opportunity to make Indian hospitality the emerging engine for GDP growth and employment generation.
As March draws to a close, two consecutive long weekend opportunities - Holi and Good Friday - are driving up hotel occupancy and airfares across major routes. According to travel platform Cleartrip, hotel bookings have seen a 3.5 times spike for the Holi weekend, while a 3.7 times spike has been visible in the Good Friday weekend.
India's share in world tourist inflows was only 0.64 per cent in 2012. It could only attract 6.97 million foreign tourists during 2013.
'The main worry is lots of new investors coming into the markets in order to make a quick buck/easy money.' 'Those things are happening again and have happened in the past as well.' 'All that has led to problems.' 'We are not there yet, but will get there eventually.'
Indian cine stars such as Salman Khan, Akshay Kumar and Shraddha Kapoor along with other prominent personalities on Sunday appealed to fans to "explore Indian islands" and coastal destinations.
Airfares in the country are set to rise, with IndiGo on Thursday introducing a fuel charge of up to Rs 1,000 based on a flight's distance, in response to the significant rise in aviation turbine fuel (ATF) prices in the last three months. The Indian aviation sector experiences its peak travel season between October and December. The inclusion of a fuel charge component in airfares is anticipated to have a sizable impact on IndiGo's passengers, according to experts.
'Rather than visiting famous monuments, travellers now prefer "experiential activities" such as biking, trekking/hiking, camping, river rafting, yachting, parasailing and zip lining; safaris and jungle adventures; and wellness holidays to rejuvenate themselves.'
19 per cent of all travel in India (by bus, train or air) was pilgrimage or religious travel (possibly the single largest after business and family-related travel), discovers Ambi Parameswaran.
Hundred centrally-protected monuments, including UNESCO world heritage sites spread across the country, will be lit up for a week and bear the G20 logo starting December 1 when India will assume the Presidency of influential group, officials said on Wednesday.
The hospitality and tourism sector is among the worst hit because of the pandemic, and is unlikely to recover any time soon as people continue to be cautious of going out in a crowded places.
Mamallapuram's Group of Monuments -- a collection of 7th- and 8th-century religious structures -- attracted 46 per cent of the total foreign tourists who visited India compared to 12 per cent by the Taj.
When the sun rises in 2022, the Indian hospitality industry will be waking up with prayers for survival, desperately looking forward to some form of support from the government as revival from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic of the last two years will be an arduous journey. Just as the industry was beginning to see a flickering light at the end of a long tunnel towards the end of 2021, the spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus and subsequent extension of suspension of scheduled international passenger flights till January 31, 2022, has come as a dampener to those who were looking to have some business in the winter season. With inbound tourist arrivals unlikely amidst the pandemic, the industry wants the government to incentivise domestic travels with income tax benefits for a limited period so as to help the hospitality and tourism sector get up again by tapping the pent up demand for holidays, within the country.
A large percentage of total tourism business activity of India, which is estimated at $28 billion+ in forex and upwards of Rs 2 lakh crore in domestic tourism activity will be at economic risk through the year.
Indian and global airlines such as SpiceJet, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic among others too are marketing Covid-19 insurance products to attract passengers.
The most visible and immediate impact of COVID-19 is seen in the hotel and tourism sector in all its geographical segments - inbound, outbound and domestic.
While Birla did not specify the financial implications of the move, sources said the Lok Sabha Secretariat can annually save more than Rs 8 crore with the subsidy coming to an end.
As many as 20 central public sector enterprises and their units are at various stages of strategic disinvestment, while six are being considered for closure or are under litigation, Minister of State for Finance Anurag Singh Thakur said on Monday.
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