In India, from 2019 to 2021, nights booked at unique properties have increased by over 30 percent, revealed Airbnb. Unique listings collectively earn ₹250 million in India just in 2021. Farmstays are the most-booked unique listing type in India, with more than 30,000 nights booked in 2021.

Travel and transportation services combined are likely to account for 21% of India’s total services exports in Financial Year 2022-23, compared to around 15% in the first half of 2021-22 and 2020-21, when the pandemic struck, according to SEPC. In pre-pandemic 2019-20, travel and transportation services made up nearly 23% of services exports of $213 billion.

According to WTTC Annual Research India, it has been revealed that India visitor spend on leisure was $153.6 billion in 2021, as compared to the business spend of $6.3 billion during the same period. This meant that the leisure spend was 24 times higher than business spend.

Oman recorded 794,000 inbound travellers till the end of the end of May 2022. As many as 111,883 Indian travelers visited Oman till the end of May 2022 as compared to 24,881 recorded in April this year. According to the tourism indicators for May 2022 released by National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), while 1.5 million travelers departed Oman by the end of May 2022, the nation received 794,000 travellers from GCC nations, India, Yemen, Germany, and United Kingdom by the end of May 2022.

A survey of over 2,000 travellers by Thomas Cook India-SOTC, has revealed that the spiritual tourism segment has the potential to grow by 20-30 percent for the next five years. Also, it was found that 55 percent of the respondents said they took a religious/ spiritual tour or trip as soon as they could.

As per the 3rd TSA (Tourism Satellite Account) for 2019-20, the contribution of tourism to employment of the country is 79.86 million, revealed G. Kishan Reddy, Minister of Tourism, Culture and DoNER in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. Tourism and Hospitality sector is one of the largest employments generating sector in India, he added.

The second edition of Rajasthan Domestic Travel Mart (RDTM) 2022 was held from 22-24 July, where the Rajasthan Film Tourism Promotion Policy 2022 was also unveiled. Speaking at the inauguration, Usha Sharma, Chief Secretary, Rajasthan, said, “Rajasthan has maximum number of UNESCO sites, but we’re not doing justice to this. Hence, we need to ensure people get to explore these sites and make Rajasthan a world heritage state.” Gaj Singh, President Emeritus, Indian Heritage Hotels Association (IHHA) said, “Domestic tourism has a lot of potential. It is a very strong segment that needs to be promoted. If domestic is strong we don’t need to be dependent on international travellers.”

New Zealand’s border fully reopens from August 1, 2022. This webinar will highlight details on what to expect while travelling to the country and some simple guidelines that need to be followed to stay safe whilst there. Join the webinar on July 27 at 11am IST. To sign up, contact Jaspreet Kaur at jaspreet.kaur@ddppl.com or 9650196532.

Russia has introduced a universal single-entry electronic visa for 52 countries, including India that will simplify the process of obtaining a permit, allowing a foreign citizen to stay in Russia for up to 16 days in a period of up to 60 calendar days. In order to apply for an electronic visa, a tourist will only need to fill out an online application, which will be reviewed by the Foreign Ministry within four days.

In a report titled, ‘Role of Missions Globally for the growth of Tourism in India’ by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, it is recommended that the connectivity between the cities is required to enable the growth of MICE tourism in India.