New Year, New Journeys, and the Indian wanderlust story Rohit Hangal

The headlines roared "Tourism in India in 2024 will break records!" With multiple hotels, airlines and trains going through a phase of depleted capacities, all wishing they had double their existing inventory! Domestic travel with a rebounded economy has delivered to the Indian tourism industry. The entire country is on construction mode, whether it is the greenfield airports, upgraded railway networks to highways that we as a generation, who grew up in the eighties and nineties could only dream about!

2023 was also about breaking the headline market with India's G20 presidency to the Cricket World Cup. The year also saw mega Convention centres being opened and re-creation of new religious tourism destinations of Varanasi and Ayodhya. The year also saw, amid record crunching airline occupancies, headline grabbing record orders for Boeings and Airbuses, while there emerged some difficult times for a couple of our airlines as well. The year 2023 also saw record travel-agent associations / consortiums / alliances being formed to take up the cudgels on behalf of the Indian tourism industry!

A five trillion-dollar economy is no longer a long-term mission statement and India will be among the top three economies in the world before this decade. As a country, 'India that is Bharat' became another headline to wake up to. More than a mere nomenclature, it is a timely opportunity to reposition Brand India as a civilizational state with its heady cocktail of heritage, culture, and unbridled chaos!

To Catch the MICE...

The Meeting industry for has complained that India did not have major mega convention centres and we could not bid for mega conferences with 10 - 15,000 delegates. Now; with the inauguration of Bharat Mandapam and Yashobhoomi in Delhi by the Prime Minister is an opportunity the MICE industry in India cannot ignore. Bidding for mega association conventions is a long and tedious process. The faster the Indian Convention Promotion Bureau and India Tourism can facilitate and aid in creating viable bid documents and a winning presentation, the meeting industry in India will find another successful segment to compete in on a global scale. Globally, Convention centres unless backed by the city and government funding seldom make money. It should be part of the government's (at both the State and National level) city infrastructure. To give a perspective, China has invested in over 100 Convention Centres with a minimum area of 3500 square metres across the country to be part of the city's infrastructure. The Govt. of India over the last ten years has doubled the number of airports from 70 to now around 150 to an anticipated 220 in another three years. Every airport should be supported by an adjoining convention centre as part of its infrastructure. Getting an airport on to fly-mode is an easier part, but sustaining airlines to keep flying despite the Udaan scheme needs more to be done. Every city that has an airport should also have a market-place in form of a Multi-use convention and exhibition centre. The boom in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as an independent consumer of world-class products and services will also sustain the tourism business, when you bring in investments in Exhibition centres and Convention hotels. The Prime Minister's open pitch to get his countrymen to organize weddings in India is an interesting extension to the 'Make in India' slogan. Thus, here comes 'Wed in India' in all its finery and a US 50-billion-dollar market to get hitched into!

Inbound Travel into India

As the Indian hospitality and travel industry wakes up from a very successful 2023 hangover, the Indian inbound industry continues to lag as compared to their industry partners. Numbers are still not back to levels of 2019 without not much hope for 2024 as well. You can blame it on Post Covid traumas, the current geo-political mess in Ukraine and Israel and weakening western economies. The inbound industry needs more than a helping hand.

In a sector where uncertainties dominate, inbound business is built over decades of consisting marketing backed by credible quality service delivery. India Tourism's initiative to shut down its international office is a shock and a set-back. Though the argument that the Indian Embassies and consulates will be mandated to market the destination sounds okay in theory, the practicality of our babus interacting with the global travel-trade and media is a different ballgame. Let our noble diplomats do what they are good at and leave destination-marketing to professionals. Just merely participating in a few International fairs is not good enough, though the 'Incredible India' campaign has stood the test of time. The Incredible India brand should be backed with budgets and manpower in a very aggressive marketplace. Inbound business needs a consistent campaign delivery and India Tourism's efforts should be on steroids mode to say the least, when the numbers are flaking.

Hopefully, the new government in May will relook at opening of India Tourism offices abroad once again. India has since Independence has been a long-haul destination with our markets being in North America and Europe. With economies in Europe not in the best of shape and with crazy air travel fares, it is a further dampener. The airfares which are predicted to be high for the next few years till we get used to it as the 'new normal'. India Tourism and the inbound players may wish to reach-out to markets closer to home for luxury travel.

India and the hospitality conundrum

The great Indian hotel boom is back. With investments on mega mode with almost every hotel chain worth its name is back to visualizing their hotel brands in multiples of hundreds! Rev Pars and Average Room Rates are at time high. Banquets and conferences rates are breaking every moolah barrier. Just received a quote from a leading hotel chain for an event, which included additional charges for using air-conditioning as well!

Good times are back, with global brands overtaking independent hotels in sheer scalability. Hotel brands from across the world are making their beeline into the Indian shores like never before. Homestays, once back of nowhere are now wooed by brands like no other. Consolidators and Aggregators are the new buzzwords in the room inventory factory. If you are a global hotel brand and do not have an India plan, you are passe! A good time nevertheless if you are in the master-franchisee line. Brand extensions are here to stay. The era of new jargon like 'Asset-light' are key buzzwords you will hear more in the Indian hospitality branding market. With 90% of the new hotels being invested upon by those from outside the industry, it is also a good time for consultants and multi-brand franchise operators.

Hospitality Education and the road to nowhere!

Just a couple of years ago, hotel management institutes were unable to fill-up seats. There is still a tremendous stress on the manpower and upskilling. Hotel standards have dropped amid rising ARRs and mixed customer feedback. One veteran hotelier also remarked on the trained manpower shortage that, he is putting up a board outside his hotel which will scream "Trespassers will be recruited!" It is criminal to see hotel management institutes struggling to fill-up. The industry and the government should incentivize or even bankroll education of half a million students in the skills of the industry. Though it is part of every hospitality association's lead theme for its convention; the storyline gets carried forward into the next convention!

Outbound Travel – the upswing

As the travel world grapples with a low-down Europe and the Chinese meltdown, India is a surprising winner. With an economy growing at nearly 8% and with more money to spend, it is always a good for any country's economy to get a shopping obsessed Indian family transcending their borders. Global visa regimes go softer as the humble desi traveller shows his penchant to travel. Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia and now Iran are the new converts to the 'Visa on Arrivals' regime for Indians. As per the 2023 Passport Index by Henley & Partners, Indian passport holders can now travel to 57 countries without facing visa issues. This list includes countries offering visa-free travel, visa-on-arrival services, and electronic travel authorization. The humble blue passport gets wings literally.

Just came across an enterprising restauranter even opening an authentic Andhra restaurant in faraway Vietnam. Over 20 million Indians had travelled abroad in the first nine months of 2023 breaching 2019 figures with ease. More International airlines on Indian runways with tickets touching the skies does not seem to hamper the Indian wanderlust.

How has the Indian outbound traveller changed? India emerged from its Covid horror and you as a member of the travel-trade saw your favourite Bollywood actors and an endless stream of starlets posing in the turquoise blue waters of Maldives giving your client another shot at the FOMO moment ('fear of missing out' for the uninitiated). The leisure travel-agent had his eureka moment and discovered his world has not ended. The outbound fairytale despite the TCS quandary lives on to be another ‘storyable’ Instagram post!

An average Indian traveler now has discovered his or her diverse preferences when it comes to outbound travel. Family vacations remains dominant with Indian families often embarking on holidays on every long weekend. Couples taking a break from work to travel the world is no longer strange. Honeymoon travel is now renamed as 'Romance Travel!'

Furthermore, there is an emerging interest in experiential and adventure. Indians are seeking immersive experiences, such as culinary tours, cultural exchanges, volunteering; and outdoor activities like trekking, skiing, scuba diving or even jumping on to Hot-Air ballooning over the Masai Mara to see the Great Migration. Shopping continues to be an essential component of Indian travelers' itinerary. As the coming year harps on, the world will not find it strange to even see more Whisky slurping Indians on a niche Burgandy tour in France.

So, here is to 2024; "A year where your business not only makes headlines but writes them. Fasten your seatbelts and let the adventure begin!"