Outbound Tourism from India:
In 2017 about 24 million Indians travelled internationally. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) predicts the number of Indian outbound travellers to touch 50 million by 2020 with total outbound spending crossing the USD 28 billion mark. Improved visa processing and reciprocal Visa On Arrival facilities are in place with multiple countries. VfS and other visa services expect a double digit growth in 2018.
A significant contribution will be from business travellers, evolved individual travellers including the youth segment. 65 percent of the Indian population is under 30 years of age which also provides a stimulus to the multi-million dollar wedding and honeymoon market. Presently, 68 million Indians hold a passport, which represents 5,15 percent of the total population of 1,32 billion.
Leading trends will see further growth in family and experiential travel. Single destinations and longer stays will gain prominence over multi-destination first timers. The demand for luxury outbound travel is expected to develop simultaneously. Opportunities for hotels and resorts to capture short and long-haul MICE segments also continue to grow steadily.
'Cash rich, time poor' customers prefer to use travel trade partners for around 60 percent of total travel transactions. Online and smart phone based m-commerce platforms are growing steadily, predominantly for reservations of flights and accommodation domestically. Travel information is increasingly collected via multiple online channels.
India is the 5th most attractive market for investment (PwC CEO survey). India’s GDP growth is predicted at 7.4 per cent in 2018 and 7.8 per cent in 2019, according to the revised forecast by the International Monetary Fund.