Post-COVID, the Average Room Rate (ARRs) have skyrocketed even for budget properties across the country. Pratima Badhwar, Head of Commercial – India & South, Asia, Accor said, “India was the most under sold market. With the kind of products that we have, the service we deliver, one cannot get hotels in $80-100 anywhere. I think a good takeaway of COVID is that we are getting the rates corrected for the country.” 

Pradeep Shetty, President, Hotel And Restaurant Association (Western India) – HRAWI & Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), said, “At present, Lakshadweep operates only one or two flights weekly with limited seat capacity using ATRs. There’s an urgent need to augment flight frequency and upgrade airport facilities, including larger runways for accommodating bigger aircraft. Simultaneously, augmenting room inventory is crucial.” 

Air Arabia in partnership with Kazin DMC announced a 9-city roadshow to promote Kazakhstan. The roadshow will start from 8th January 2024 till 25th January 2024 and will cover Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cochin & Thiruvananthapuram. Air Arabia’s seamless flight connection along with Kazakhstan’s gaining popularity as a fast and upcoming tourist destination in the short haul market is a key motive for this roadshow to encourage and educate key travel partners to promote the destination using Air Arabia’s flights.

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.  

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.