Countries competing to attract Indian tourists with deepening pockets

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A majority of Indians have a propensity to travel and given the improving economic condition of a large share of them, a very large number of Indians are set to trot the globe, a study by McKinsey titled “From India to the world: Unleashing the Potential of India’s Tourists” has stated. The study released on November 2, clearly said that the number of Indians who would set foot beyond the country’s boundaries is set to rise considerably. Among the countries that are vigorously pursuing Indian travellers are the US, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Vietnam, Turkey, Thailand and Sri Lanka. A few are also planning to make entry for Indians smoother. Thailand, that has been a favourite destination for a large number of Indians for a number of years, has announced that travellers from this country need not have a visa between November 10, 2023 and May 10, 2024. “We want more travellers to visit Thailand,” Tourism Authority of Thailand told The Economic Times. Thailand hosted 965,994 Indian tourists in 2022 while this year between January 1 and October 31 1,302,483 Indians visited Thailand. It means almost 35% more Indians have visited Thailand in the first 10 months of 2023 than the entire 2022. “If India follows China’s outbound travel trajectory (which it could, due to similarity in population size and per capita income trajectory), then Indian tourists could make 80 to 90 million trips a year by 2040,” said the report from McKinsey. “Flights frequency and capacity has been increased by 24% and 19%, respectively, this year compared to last year. We have opened eight Tasheer offices (visa centres) in India to accelerate the visa process for Indian visitors. Indian passport holders that have UK, US and Schengen visas that have been used at least once will now be able to apply for a Saudi e-visa online,” said Alhasan Aldabbagh, who is the president of APAC markets at the Saudi Tourism Authority. In order to attract tourists from around the globe, Saudi Arabia is on an aggressive promotion drive. It had more than 10 lakh visitors from India between January and September. Next year, Saudi Arabia has set a target to attract 24 lakh Indian tourists. Saudi Arabia is also using the sponsorship of the IPL to raise awareness that might eventually lead to more visitors to that country. Another country that’s gunning for Indian tourists is Australia. It has taken steps to simplify and streamline visa application process for Indian travellers said Nishikant Kashikar, country manager, India and Gulf, Tourism Australia. Not only are more Indians visiting Australia but also they are spending more. The year ended June 2023 witnessed a 24% rise in the amount spent by Indian tourists in Australia (Rs 12,000 crore) compared to the year ended June 2019. Said Kashikar, “With the application process being completely digitised, we have also seen the Department of Home Affairs offering faster processing timelines for high-quality visa lodgements and for well-travelled Indian citizens. The absence of biometrics and no physical assessments required have become a huge advantage in this regard.” Sri Lanka has the largest number of foreign tourists from India. In order to make travel for Indians even smoother, the country has said Indians need not pay for visas. Other countries where the same facility has been extended include Russia, China, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand. It is a pilot project that will be in force till March 31, 2023, foreign affairs minister Ali Sabry said on X. Turkiye has ensconced itself in the mindspace of many Indians as a premier destination for weddings and holidays, a fact promoted by direct flights from this country. “The number of Indian tourists that Turkiye has welcomed in the first nine months of this year is 199,966. We are optimistic about breaking previous records by hosting a substantial number of visitors this year,” the country’s tourism authorities said in a statement. Moscow has also begun issuing electronic visas (e-visas) to Indian passport holders since August 1. The step was supposed to help visitors get travel approval fast for tourism and business trips. India recorded more than 140% increase in visa applications in 2022 compared to 2021, said Prabuddha Sen, chief operating officer, South Asia, at VFS Global.