Tag Archives: ForwardKeys

ForwardKeys has revealed that Tickets for travel to key APAC destinations are on the rise. And it is India leading the way forward. India has recovered 80% of 2019’s level in the week of 5th March 2022. “The success behind India’s reactivation is the fact that India had announced in advance its reopening plan for this year, generating awareness and interest,” says Nan Dai, Market Analyst at ForwardKeys.

As predicted by ForwardKeys’ Forecast data, this year, the number of Russian outbound travel is expected to increase by 64% when compared to 2021, and 96% when compared to 2020. Regarding when we can expect it to recover to 2019 levels, Nan Dai, China Market Expert at ForwardKeys says: “Looking at the current pattern and pace for bookings, it is expected to recover to 2019 levels approximately in three to four years.” 

Investing in a sound domestic tourism plan with healthy airline promotions and tour operators in sync has its merits, claims ForwardKeys in a presentation at the Asian Leadership Conference in Seoul, South Korea. Giving an example of China, the presentation mentioned that China reached pre-pandemic domestic arrival levels as early as September 2020, even with the pandemic in flagrant, thanks to teaming up its national public holidays with airline deals for couples (two for one offers) and the introduction of tax-free perks for shopping holidays to Hainan.

The latest air ticket data analysed by ForwardKeys reveals that comparing April-September 2021 against the same six months in 2019, a significant shift in source markets is evident. The USA, which used to account for 31% of actual air tickets into India pre-COVID has doubled. The UK, a traditional source market, has shrunk by more than half to only 6%.

Recent statistics from ForwardKeys have claimed that Delhi-Mumbai and Mumbai-Delhi have been the top 2 most searched domestic routes in India in July 2020. However, In July 2019, Delhi-Goa and Goa-Delhi were the top 2 most searched routes.

In its report on air travel trends in South Asia and India, ForwardKeys reveals that for June 2020, Delhi-Patna was the most searched domestic India route for any future travel, replacing Delhi-Goa as the most searched in the same period last year.

In the APAC region, while Northeast Asia has taken the major brunt of the crisis with bookings being down by 83%, South Asia has been significantly less impacted and most of the countries in the region on an average 50 to 60 per cent behind 2019 levels, reveals ForwardKeys.

Latest data on future bookings to India by ForwardKeys suggests that whilst there is no upward surge in tickets for November, travellers are generally holding onto their tickets. Ticketing history also tells the same story. Olivier Ponti, VP Insights says, “Bookings are flat as we can see a ‘wait and see attitude’ taking place, however, we expect the situation will evolve when people get more clarity regarding travel restrictions.”

The average lead time, i.e. the number of days between booking date and travel date (how far in advance travellers book their trips), for long- haul travel to South Asia is 73 days, according to ForwardKeys.

Looking at key trends and changes in booking habits for India and South Asia as studied by ForwardKeys, India continues to be the most favoured destination among key long-haul markets of United Kingdom, USA, Germany, UAE and Australia, repeatedly featuring in the top two choice of each.