Nancy Dai, Insights Experts, Forwardkeys said, “Travellers in Asia Pacific tends to stay longer than they did in the past. The length of stay of over 9 nights has increased by 7 per cent compared to 2019. This likely means that they will spend more during their stay and the economy recovery is going to happen faster than in visitor volumes.”  

Civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia informed that initially launched at five airports, excluding Chennai, DigiYatra expanded to eight more, operating in 13 Indian airports, servicing 85% of domestic passengers. With 35 million app downloads and 91 lakh uses, plans for 2024 include integrating 25 additional airports, encompassing 96% of passengers, up from the existing 85%. 

After one year of successful operations, ITA Airways has increased the number of flights to 7, allowing for a daily flight on the Delhi to Rome route. Fabio Bigotti, Country Manager-Japan and India, ITA Airways, said, “We are keenly interested in the Indian market and, based on aircraft availability, we are evaluating connections to other cities. Mumbai holds significant importance for us, and currently, we are assessing the possibility of establishing operations in a city outside Delhi.” 

Speaking at the MOT’s industry roundtable on developing India as a MICE destination, Naveen Kundu, Managing Director, Ebixcash Travel Services, advised the Ministry of Tourism to regulate companies that send people abroad for incentive travel. This trend results in significant losses for the exchequer, particularly concerning the outflow of foreign exchange.  

FCM, the flagship large corporate division of the Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), has appointed Sunny Sodhi as the Managing Director of India. Sodhi has spent more than 26 years in the travel and hospitality industry. He is a seasoned professional with experience establishing businesses and delivering accelerated growth. Previously at OYO, Sodhi was the COO for Luxury and Upscale Business and the Head of Sales for India and Southeast Asia. Before OYO, he was the COO for Yatra for Business (Corporate Travel), a vertical he was instrumental in establishing from the ground up. He was also the Head of Industry Relations for Yatra.com. Sodhi has had successful stints at HRG and CWT India in business, sales, and client management roles. He also actively supports the start-up ecosystem in the country.

Amadeus has appointed Sandeep Dwivedi as Managing Director – Travel Sellers, India and subcontinent, where he will oversee Amadeus’ commercial activities for travel sellers across the region.    Sandeep takes over responsibilities for India and subcontinent from Ramona Bohwongprasert, SVP, Southeast Asia, Inside Sales & Startups, Travel Sellers, Asia Pacific, Amadeus, who will continue to look after Southeast Asia with an expanded role of Inside Sales & Startups across the entire Asia Pacific region. Bringing decades of travel industry knowledge to Amadeus, Sandeep has extensive experience in various senior leadership roles, most recently in a role for InterGlobe Technology Quotient where he played a pivotal role in driving growth across the Asia Pacific region.    Javier Laforgue, Executive Vice President, Travel Unit & Managing Director, Asia Pacific commented, “The travel industry in India is growing at rapid pace and Amadeus is at the forefront of this progress. We are excited to bring Sandeep onboard as he is a trusted leader that understands the vision of Amadeus in India and the subcontinent. We have been present in the region for over two decades and this appointment further underscores our commitment to serving the technology needs of the travel industry there.” 

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced strengthened profitability projections for airlines in 2023, which will then largely stabilize in 2024. Airline industry net profits are expected to reach US$25.7 billion in 2024 (2.7% net profit margin). That will be a slight improvement over 2023 which is expected to show a US$23.3 billion net profit (2.6% net profit margin). 

María Valcarce, Managing Director, FITUR said, “India is a destination that offers a variety of options, and its cultural and heritage richness is immense, as is the beauty of its natural landscapes. It is a dream destination for every traveller and the presentation of the tourism proposals of the different regions of India at FITUR arouses much interest among both professionals and the public visiting the fair at the weekend.” 

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said that 40 per cent revenue and 8 per cent of employment of the tourism sector comes from the MICE industry. “It shows that there is huge scope and we all need to focus on developing this sector. Gujarat has developed several MICE destinations over the years. Gujarat has hosted several national and international-level events, including the G20. This makes Gujarat the most suitable place for MICE. Now, we are focusing on developing conference tourism”, he said. 

Agoda has revealed the top travel locations of the year for Indian travellers. Domestically, New Delhi and NCR was the most booked and for Indians travelling abroad, Thailand’s capital Bangkok leapfrogged Dubai to claim the top spot. Additionally, Agoda rankings also revealed that in terms of foreign travel preferences, Indians tend to favour short-haul destinations around the region. Bangkok, Dubai, Bali, Singapore and Pattaya have emerged as the top five outbound destinations.