Gujarat has emerged as a top Indian state for foreign tourists. Foreign tourist visits surged from 11,319 in 2021 to 17,77,215 in 2022, and reached 28,06,871 in 2023, reflecting a 58% increase. This significant growth, highlighted in recent Union Ministry of Tourism data, underscores Gujarat’s rising appeal with 28.06 lakh visitors in 2023. 

Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO said, “Aurangabad will soon become an international airport, with flights from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur landing there. This will increase inbound tourism to the destination. Similarly, if Bhopal also gains international airport status, it will improve conditions in Madhya Pradesh by attracting international airlines.”  

Sheo Shekhar Shukla, Principal Secretary (Tourism) and Managing Director of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board, said, “The Taj Group has expanded its presence in Madhya Pradesh and plans to open a beautiful heritage property between Khajuraho and Panna National Park, which will be one of its kind in the country. In terms of hospitality, accommodation, and infrastructure, Madhya Pradesh offers the best, second to none.” 

Karnataka Tourism Minister H K Patil announced that the government will introduce a new ‘Tourism Policy 2024-29’ focusing on various aspects of the sector. He stated, “We have decided to launch the new tourism policy within a month. The groundwork is underway. The policy will emphasise temple tourism, adventure tourism, recreational tourism, eco-tourism, educational tourism, and agro-tourism.” 

Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, Ebixcash Travel said, “The Union Budget 2024 is appalling when it comes to tourism. It’s all talk and no action! The already neglected sector has been simply ignored. Where have initiatives like Meet in India and Chalo India disappeared to? Can all that be achieved with a budget of just Rs 33 crores? There are lessons to be learned from neighboring countries which subsidise incentives for incoming tourists, thereby achieving significantly higher visitor numbers from India.” 

The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, Sultanate of Oman, along with Oman Air, Magic Travels, and W Muscat, invites the travel trade to attend a webinar on the destination and the product offerings. Get valuable insights and updates for your clients on July 29 at 3pm IST and stand a chance to win exciting prizes! For more information, write to jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532. 

According to Allied Market Research, the global business travel market size was valued at $689.70 billion in 2021, and is estimated to reach $2.1 trillion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 9.5% from 2022 to 2031. The trending factors responsible for fueling the business travel market include bleisure travel (business + leisure), IoT (internet of things), development of smart hotels, virtual reality for hotel bookings, and personalisation. 

In June, India’s domestic air passenger traffic increased by 5.76% to 13.2 million from 12.4 million in the corresponding month last year, according to the monthly data released by DGCA. IndiGo led the market with 80.86 lakh passengers, holding a dominant 60.5% market share, followed by Air India and Vistara, operated by the Tata Group, which carried 17.47 lakh and 12.84 lakh travellers, respectively. 

Union Minister of State for Tourism, Suresh Gopi said that Tripura should come forward with a competitive mindset and advised to utilise time properly from September to March as it has been identified as peak tourism hour in the state. The government is focusing and working on different schemes for spiritual and adventure tourism and asked Tripura to work in this direction. “Tripura can be marked as a model in the entire country if the state approaches in this direction”, he said.  

WTTC projects that Travel & Tourism will contribute almost INR 21.15 trillion to the Indian economy in 2024, an increase of 21% from 2019. Jobs are predicted to increase by 2.45 million this year, equivalent to one in 11 jobs in India. International visitor spending is expected to grow more than 17%, to reach INR 2.85 trillion, while domestic visitor spending is projected to continue growing this year, with a 9.6% increase to reach more than INR 16 trillion.