Tag Archives: India

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.”

Sharing details in the recent Rajya Sabha session, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said India has executed Bilateral Air Services Agreements (ASAs) with a total of 116 foreign countries. The agreements facilitate the operation of international flights between India and these nations, aiming to boost global connectivity and support economic and tourism growth.

On IndiGo’s 18th-anniversary, Rahul Bhatia, Group MD, InterGlobe Enterprises, said, “India deserves more than just two major airlines, and IndiGo’s market share domination is not entirely of its own volition, as certain airlines have fallen by the wayside. He also said that IndiGo will never be found guilty of “gouging” its customers and welcomes competition with the right cost structure.”

A visa-on-arrival facility is available to citizens of Japan, South Korea, and the UAE if they are visiting India for tourism, business, conference, and medical purposes. This visa is valid for 60 days with the flexibility of double entry, said MOT. However, it is available only at 6 designated airports: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai.

Suman Billa, Additional Secretary, MOT, has said that India could have one taskforce that looks at the ‘macro side’ picture, but there is also a need to have four or five taskforces that work on sector-specific issues. “I think there is a clear case for making four or five taskforces, but we will figure out how to structure them,” he said.

According to CRISIL Ratings, rising domestic tourism and increasing propensity to travel overseas will expand revenue of India’s tour and travel operators by a robust 15-17 per cent this fiscal. The growth in revenue will be on a high base of last fiscal, when revenue jumped ~40% year-on-year to about ₹14,500 crore, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak by ~20%.

In a strong message to the world at the 46th Session of the World Heritage Committee, Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India, said, “It is India’s clarion call to the world to come together to promote each other’s heritage and amplify the spirit of human welfare, encourage tourism and create more job opportunities. There was a time when heritage was ignored in the pursuit of development, but today, India’s vision is development as well as heritage – ‘Vikas bhi, Virasat bhi’.”

Addressing the 2nd “Healthcare Summit” of the American Chamber of India, Jitendra Singh, MoS, Science & Technology, said, “Gone are the days when people used to visit other developed nations to access medical facilities, India has become the most sought-after destination for medical tourism and is among the frontline nations in preventive healthcare.”