Sheetal Munshaw, Director India, Atout France, highlighted, “There is a renewed focus of Paris Region on India, and the fact that they will have a presence in Mumbai goes to show their commitment to the Indian market. Paris is the gateway for Indian visitors into France and the focus now is to discover different facets of Paris, showcase different areas of the city, including Notre-Dame which will re-open this year. The message is that Paris is so much more than what is already known to travellers.” There are so many unexplored products on the table that need to be promoted and experienced by the travellers.

Arshdeep Anand, Chairperson, ATOAI Women’s Collective, shared, “Increased air connectivity is directly proportional to increased tourism activity in a particular destination. Govt is making efforts to develop niche tourism in the country in the form of island tourism, adventure tourism, wildlife tourism, spiritual and wellness tourism. If our domestic carriers can come up with connectivity to develop these circuits, it would boost the tourism potential within the country. There is also a great demand-supply gap from India in relation to flights to Scandinavia for Northern lights, except to Finland and Copenhagen.

Loveleen Multani Arun, Founder-Director, Panache World, shared that to entice more women travellers in 2024, “Industry experts might want to consider asking some tour companies who are willing to be certified as ‘Safe tour providers for women’ or some such accreditation based on various criteria such as process, past references etc.” As many stakeholders in the industry are looking forward to catering specifically to women travellers as a distinct segment, such certifications can play a pivotal role in bringing business from women.

As tourism in Nepal is gradually witnessing recovery from the onslaught of Covid-19, India became Nepal’s top inbound tourist market with 25,578 Indians visiting the Himalayan nation in February via air. Nepal Tourism Board claimed the number is on the higher side as many tourists visit the country via land route.

Nishad Wijetunga, President, SLAITO said, “Sri Lanka has lost M!CE tourists to competitors like Thailand and India on minimum room rates as higher standard rooms were available in other countries at lower prices. However, we managed to retain a majority of bookings made before the minimum room rates were imposed last year.”

In a significant development, Tamil Nadu ranked second in foreign tourist visits, with 1.23 million foreign tourists visiting the state. To further increase the numbers by more than 20 per cent, the state government has decided to formulate and implement a creative and brand positioning strategy to target international and domestic markets.

Rajesh Magow, MMT, Chief Executive Officer said, “Inbound is the only significant laggard.” The main reason was that every big domestic market or region in India was doing well along with other issues like visa issuance, low supply of air seat inventory and high airfares, but it is also making its way slowly now, he added.

Sharing her views on how business travel in India is slated for growth, Catherine Logan, Regional Vice President of EMEA & APAC, Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), said, “India will fully reach pre-2019 spending levels by 2025 and is likely to reach 120 per cent of its pre-COVID business travel spend by 2027.”

Giving an overview of India’s ‘Hotels & Hospitality’ sector, HVS Anarock revealed that India’s domestic air passenger traffic increased by nearly 5 per cent in January 2024 but the country’s hotel sector saw lower occupancy compared to pre-pandemic levels and continued growth in average rates.

Research on the Indian travel market and shopper behaviour by Swiss research agency m1nd- set revealed that in the next five to six years, the country will be the world’s fourth-largest travel spender. The middle class in India will account for about half of the population by 2030, it added.