Tag Archives: domestic travel

KB Kachru, President, Hotel Association of India, said, “To beat the heat, residents of the Northern region seek refuge in the hills. Industry insiders estimate a 30 to 40% rise in summer travel compared to last year.” While Goa remains the top beach destination of choice, mountain destinations like Nainital, Rishikesh, Manali, Mussoorie, and Darjeeling are gaining traction for June trips, signalling a shift in traveller preferences towards serene mountain environments.

The domestic contributions to travel and tourism reached 87 per cent in India, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) annual economic impact data. Ranking fourth in domestic visitor spending, it is worth noting the rapid development of the domestic travel and tourism market in India, which grew by US$83 billion and rose from the eighth to the fourth largest domestic market between 2008 and 2017. Unsurprisingly, the largest developed countries dominate the top spots in terms of absolute size of domestic spending. Domestic travel is the main driving force behind travel and tourism in major economies. Strong domestic tourism in most of these countries is driven by a growing or sizeable middle-class population, an increase in spending power among domestic consumers, the sheer size of the countries, governments’ initiatives in promoting new locations, and strong or improving transportation infrastructure and economic links between different internal regions. For instance, the Indian government plans to build 100 new airports with a budget of US$60bn over the next 10 to 15 years to accommodate and stimulate the demand for domestic travel.

Demand for domestic travel climbed 8.2% in June compared to June 2016, up slightly from the 7.9% growth seen in May. India led all markets with a 20.3% rise in domestic traffic in June. However, the very strong upward trend in traffic has slowed since the country’s unexpected ‘demonetisation’ in November 2016. India’s streak of year-on-year double-digit traffic growth may have ended with June. June capacity increased 7.0%, and load factor rose 0.9 percentage points to 84.3%. In a nutshell, air travel recorded its fastest first-half growth in 12 years, pushing load factors to record highs. And the peak northern summer travel season is likely to be record-breaking. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global passenger traffic data for June showing that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose by 7.8% compared to the year-ago period. “This is all good news. The demand for travel is strong and that, in turn, will make a positive contribution to the global economy. This growth will also further expose infrastructure deficiencies. In every part of the world airport and air navigation infrastructure is struggling to cope with demand. There are plenty of examples linking connectivity and economic prosperity. But few governments have been able to deliver on the imperatives of sufficient capacity, quality aligned with user needs and affordability. This year’s strong growth is a reminder that there is no time to lose,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. June capacity (available seat kilometers or ASKs) increased by 6.5%, and load factor rose 1.0 percentage point to 81.9%. For the first six months of 2017, the industry experienced a 12-year high in traffic growth (7.9%) and a …