Skift hold

Indian travelers are increasingly traveling abroad: Indian outbound trips are expected to reach 50 million per year by 2030.

Bulbul Dhawan

Brunei’s national airline, Royal Brunei Airlines, has launched a new direct service between Chennai in India and Bandar Seri Begawan. The airline will operate three weekly flights on this route. The route also aims to leverage Royal Brunei Airlines’ codeshare agreement with Air India to capture market share among Indian travelers.

In a statement, the airline said this route aligns with India’s Vision 2025, which will be celebrated as the ASEAN-India Year of Tourism. The initiative is part of India’s Act East policy, which aims to deepen India’s relations with countries in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.

India’s outgoing potential: India is emerging as a key source destination, as indicated by reports from Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and consulting firm McKinsey and company.

In November 2023, the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) India predicted that by 2030, Indian travelers would make more than 50 million international trips annually. In 2023, this figure was 28.2 million, according to data from the Indian Ministry of Tourism. Indian trade body FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) wait this figure is expected to increase to 80 to 90 million trips per year by 2040.

“Indian nationals are traveling more than before. Six months into 2024, 98% of Indian travelers were keen to explore new destinations, indicating that Indian travelers’ passion for global exploration has reached unprecedented heights in 2024,” the report said . FICCI Report added.

And for their exploration, Indians choose proximity as a key decision factor while finalizing the destination. This led Southeast Asia and Middle East countries are increasing their efforts and air connectivity to India.

Air India’s new service will offer more flexibility

Full-service airline Air India has launched a new service called ‘Fly Prior’ to provide more flexibility to passengers. With this service, Air India passengers will have the option of taking an alternative flight departing up to 12 hours before the originally booked flight. The service aims to target passengers who may need to make last-minute changes to their travel plans.

However, to use the service, passengers will have to pay an additional fee, unless they are Gold or Platinum members of the airline’s loyalty program. Additionally, the service can only be used at Air India ticket counters and check-in counters at airports across India. Both flights would also have to have the same scheduled departure date, which would limit alternative options for passengers booked on overnight flights.

Minor Hotels organizes roadshow in India

Global hotel owner and operator Minor Hotels organized a three-day tour of India to meet travel agents, wedding planners and MICE companies. During the roadshow, the hotel group aimed to present products that meet the needs of Indian travelers. The group said India is a key market as international travel is expected to grow, particularly destination weddings and multi-generational travel.

Minor Hotels plans to increase its presence in the country. It plans to open 50 new hotels in India over the next 10 years. The Anantara brand’s first property is expected to open in Jaipur later this year.

StayVista launches new brand

Luxury villa company StayVista has launched a new brand called Vize. Under this brand, the company will partner with real estate developers to build vacation homes. Currently, StayVista has more than 800 partner owners and offers vacation homes from these partners to customers through its platform.

With Vize, it aims to extend this service to real estate developers. Vize will work as StayVista’s advisory arm for developers to help them with services such as interior design, sales support, and booking and stay management.

“There is great underlying return potential for vacation homes in the real estate sector. Returns from vacation homes are 2-3 times higher than a residential home in the city,” said Amit Damani, co-founder of StayVista.

Goibibo launches next chapter of its ‘no compromise’ campaign

Online travel company Goibibo has launched the next chapter of its ‘No Compromise’ campaign. The campaign was launched earlier this year. The latest version targets travelers in the southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and features father-son. brand ambassadors Jayaram and Kalidas. The latest campaign references the cult classic film ‘Panchatanthiram’ to tap into nostalgia.

This is the latest move by an Indian company to promote its brands to Bollywood celebrities. Earlier this year, Hilton in partnership with Indian actor Sidharth Malhotra to expand its global marketing platform, “Hilton”. For The Stay’ on the Indian market. Indian celebrities enjoy a large following in the country and can influence the decisions of their fans. Last year, hotel chain Accor partnered with actress Katrina Kaif for its ALL – Accor Live Limitless loyalty program campaign. In 2022, Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt became the first Indian celebrity to endorse hotel group Mandarin Oriental through its global The Fan campaign.

SAMHI Hotels signs a hotel in Hyderabad

Indian hotel owner SAMHI Hotels has announced the construction of a new 170-175 room hotel in Hyderabad. The hotel will be a high-end property. An office building will be built for this project. Currently, SAMHI owns and operates four hotels in Hyderabad.

The development comes a month after SAMHI Hotels acquired Innmar Tourism and Hotels for an enterprise value of INR 2.05 billion ($24.4 million). As part of the deal, the company also acquired the 142-room Trinity Hotel located in the Whitefield area of ​​Bangalore. The resort has the option of adding a second hotel with 200 to 220 rooms.