Tag Archives: India

Phillipa Harrison, Managing Director, Tourism Australia, leading a delegation of 15 CEOs from the Australian tourism industry to meet with senior travel trade officials in New Delhi and Mumbai, has said that India is the 5th largest inbound market for arrivals for the year ended August 2024, with total arrivals for the year ended August 2024 were 423,400.

India has recorded the second-highest increase in domestic airfares in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and West Asian regions, climbing by 43% in the first half of 2024 compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, second only to Vietnam (63%), according to a study conducted by Airports Council International (ACI). India ranks third in fare increases during the same period in international skies, behind the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Malaysia.

Suggesting that India has to create an enabling environment for the market forces to unleash with aggression in terms of investments in the sector to realise the sector’s true potential, Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, MOT, said, “Tourism currently contributes 5.6% to the country’s GDP which is quite low. The task is to double it in the next 10 years by encouraging market forces to invest aggressively in the sector.”

Pradeep Shetty, President, Federation of Hotel & Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), revealed that India’s hospitality industry contributes 12-13% to the GDP and employs over 12% of the workforce. These figures place the industry ahead of both the automobile and IT sectors in terms of economic contribution.

India is presently the world’s fastest-growing aviation market with demand surpassing the supply of aircraft and a strong order book of more than 1,500 aircraft from airlines in India. India’s skies are dominated by low-cost carrier IndiGo which holds around 60% market share and the Tata group airlines, with around 30% market share. As more than 80% of India’s commercial fleet is leased, there is tremendous potential for aircraft leasing activity within India. Even if some of these aircraft are leased from India, it will bring down the costs as the leases will be immune to exchange rate volatility. Leasing done through foreign jurisdictions like Ireland is vulnerable to exchange rate fluctuations. GIFT City – Can it snatch leasing business from Dublin? The Government of India has recognized the potential of the aircraft leasing and financing business. Accordingly, in October 2020, ‘aircraft lease’ was designated as a ‘financial product’ that can be offered by entities set up in International Financial Services Centres (“IFSCs”) in India. IFSCs are essentially special economic zones dedicated to financial services. IFSCs provide tax benefits and flexibility in foreign currency transactions. In the last few years, there has been a surge in activity from the Gift City, India’s first IFSC, with more than 28 aircraft lessors already registered, which have leased more than 120 aviation assets, including aircraft, helicopters and engines. The success of GIFT city to a large extent hinges on tax incentives. Recognising this, the Indian Government provides a range of tax benefits to units established in the GIFT City, similar to some of the well-established aircraft leasing hubs like Ireland, Singapore, and Dubai. These tax benefits include a tax holiday for any 10 …

Celebrating its 25-year milestone in the industry and its partnership with the travel industry in India, Hahnair, a German scheduled, and executive charter airline organised its anniversary event at the Meridien Hotel in New Delhi. Over 80 travel agency partners attended the event along with Kimberley Long, Hahnair’s Vice President of Agency Distribution, Bharat Kapoor, Regional Vice President, Archana Nautiyal, Service Desk Manager, and Pawan Kumar Soni, Office Manager. Being one of the company’s top five global markets, the celebration highlighted the significant contributions of Hahnair’s Indian partners in its journey and underscored the company’s commitment to supporting the growth of the travel industry in India. Since 1999, the company has offered indirect distribution services to other airlines and thus, provides ticketing solutions to 100,000 travel agencies in 190 markets. With 25 years of experience, the company has established itself as the market leader. Today, Hahnair’s partner network encompasses more than 350 partner airlines. The evening also served as an opportunity to share Hahnair’s strategic plans for the future and reflect on the successes achieved through strong partnerships and a shared vision. With this, the company looks forward to expanding its footprint in India and continuing its collaboration with Indian travel agencies.

Keeping with the Indian tourism industry’s objective of positioning India as a global tourism brand, Mugdha Sinha, DG, Tourism, GoI, urged the tourism stakeholders to work together with the government while inviting them to come up with a draft of code of best practices and ethics by 27 September which is ‘World Tourism Day’ so that the MOT will try to adopt it and advertise and popularise it.”

KPMG and PHDCCI in its report titled ‘Sacred Journeys: Unfolding the Evolution and Growth of Pilgrimage and Spiritual Tourism in India’ said that pilgrimage and spiritual tourism are rapidly expanding within the global tourism sector, reflecting a growing interest in cultural, spiritual, and faith-based travel. With over 450,000 religious and cultural heritage sites, India offers a wealth of pilgrimage and spiritual landmarks, highlighting its growth, economic impact, and future opportunities.

Highlighting India’s growing importance as a key tourism market for Moscow, Evgeny Kozlov, Chairman, Moscow City Tourism Committee, said, “India currently ranks as the 6th-largest source of tourists to the city, with an increasing number of Indian business professionals choosing Moscow as their preferred destination for business events.”

Monish Shah, CEO, DreamSetGo, said, “Sports tourism in India is on a remarkable upward trajectory, growing at a CAGR of approximately 17.5 per cent, outpacing the overall tourism sector’s 10 per cent. This growth is fuelled by India’s deep-rooted passion for sports and an increasing interest in diverse international sports beyond cricket.”