India’s inbound tourism numbers have been under pressure, prompting the government to tackle several challenges head-on, starting with improving the safety of foreign tourists and addressing the persistent air pollution problem.
A parliamentary panel has recommended setting up an “Inter-Ministerial Women’s Tourism Safety Task Force” as India struggles with inbound tourism numbers. The panel said the task force would develop safety protocols, monitoring mechanism, and emergency response systems designed for female tourists.
The committee also called for allocation of funds for implementing technology-led safety measures, including GPS-enabled transportation monitoring, CCTV surveillance at tourist hotspots, and a centralized tourism safety application with real-time assistance features.
Safety of women travelers in India is a major concern among tourists.
Battling Pollution: Air pollution, especially in Delhi is another major issue in India. Delhi and neighboring regions generally grapple with severe air pollution in winter months, which coincide with the peak season for inbound tourists to arrive in the country. Tour cancellations, shorter itineraries, and reduced bookings have affected inbound tour operators also causing a lot of negative publicity for the destination in international media.
Indian tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has highlighted the steps taken by the government to improve the situation of pollution in Delhi-NCR. There have been efforts to control stubble burning in nearby regions, vehicular emission, industrial emission, management of construction and demolition waste, and close monitoring of the situation, he said.
“Due to the concerted efforts made by all stakeholders, gradual improvement has been observed in Delhi air quality. The number of days of Good-Moderate Air Quality Index (AQI) categories has increased to more than 200 for consecutive two years – 2023 and 2024 in comparison to 110 days in 2016. Further, 2024 has recorded the maximum number of days (209) in Good-Moderate AQI categories since 2016, except for Covid year 2020,” the ministry of tourism noted.
The Skift India Forum last week in Delhi-NCR also discussed in detail the pain points in promoting inbound tourism.
The Airports Authority of India is planning to expand the Hindon airport in Ghaziabad as new routes are in the works. This comes as the airport has about 600 daily passengers, very close to its maximum capacity of 700-800 passengers a day. A new route connecting Hindon with Bhubaneswar is set to be launched soon.
Recently, flights to major metros such as Kolkata, Chennai, Goa, Bengaluru, and Mumbai, have commenced from Hindon. Regional flights are also operated to Jammu, Adampur, Nanded, Kishangarh, Ludhiana, and Bathinda despite the airport also serving as an Air Force base with limited time for commercial flights on airstrip.
AAI plans to double the capacity at the airport, depending on availability of land nearby, parking space, number of flights, and the airlines’ requirements. The airport’s director Umesh Yadav said that the expansion plan is already in process, but did not give any timeline for its completion.
Radisson Hotel Group has launched a new concept for Indian weddings called “The Art of Weddings by Radisson Hotels.” The concept aims to offer curated and personalized experiences to couples according to their requirements, the company said in a statement.
According to Radisson, the concept has been designed with a flexible framework, allowing for localization and customization.
The concept aims to capitalize on the growing trend and preference for extravagant weddings in India. Brokerage firm Jeffries last year said that the average wedding spend in India is INR 1.2 million ($14,400), which is over 5 times India’s GDP per capita of $2,730. On average, an Indian household spends three times its annual income of almost INR 400,000 ($4,800) on weddings. An earlier feature by Skift said the Indian wedding industry is worth approximately INR 10 trillion ($120 billion), driven by middle-class Indian couples opting for lavish celebrations.
Astro-tourism industry players have submitted a Dark Sky Policy proposal to the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, said Starscapes founder Ramashish Ray during the Astro Tourism and Dark Sky Conclave held in the state over the weekend. During the conclave, experts discussed the need for promoting responsible tourism practices to preserve dark skies.
“The conclave marks the beginning of efforts to establish a mandate for dark sky preservation and designate certain locations in Uttarakhand as dark sky reserves. We have submitted a Dark Sky Policy proposal to the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board, and we hope it will pave the way for India’s first dark sky conservation policy. This initiative aims to implement best practices in astro-tourism while ensuring the protection of our night skies for future generations,” Ray said.
This niche tourism is gaining momentum in the country. “Over the years, we have seen that Uttarakhand has emerged as a leading destination for night sky tourism and we expect this interest to grow in the coming years,” Sachin Kurve, secretary tourism and CEO, Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board.
Budget airline IndiGo has launched a direct service between Mumbai and Seychelles. It is set to operate on the route four times a week. With this, Seychelles has become the 39th international and 130th overall destination in its network.
The airline is also set to start a service directly connecting Goa with Bhubaneswar starting April 1. Flights on this route will also be operated four times a week.
Speaking at the Skift India Forum last week, IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said, the Indian travelers’ need for mobility, either by train or plane, will continue to rise, and as long as IndiGo offers a cost-competitive good product, it will be able to capitalize on it.
Indian hotel chain Treebo Hospitality Ventures (THV) has announced the opening of Medalio Boutique Gangtok Indira Bypass Road. This is the company’s second hotel under the Medalio brand. With this, Treebo is expanding its presence in the mid-market segment.
In December last year, Treebo launched Medalio as a new premium hotel brand. The brand aims to provide a more premium experience to travelers as compared to Treebo’s current products. Treebo said that the brand was a part of its strategy to capture the mid-market segment — which has a price range of INR 3,500 to 6,000 ($41-$77) a night. Medalio properties will have between 20-50 rooms.
Talking about the premiumization of their offerings, Sidharth Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Treebo Hospitality Ventures, talked about how the entire income pyramid in India is moving upwards. “People can now afford to spend more on hotels stays… Our corporate clients are telling us that their entitlements have gone up and therefore they need a more premium offering. We’re just following the market,” Gupta said at the Skift India Forum.
