Opinion | India’s US$33 billion travel boom is reshaping global tourism

Travel is on the rise again. According to the United Nations’ tourism agency, international travel for all purposes reached 97 per cent of pre-pandemic levels in the first quarter of 2024. In Africa and Europe, arrivals have already surpassed these levels.

Indian travellers, in particular, are contributing to this growing trend – no nation’s outbound tourism market is growing faster. In response to this rapidly expanding travel boom, Indian airlines have ordered record numbers of new planes in 2024.

The Indian travel market is gigantic, with its middle class now representing 31 per cent of the country’s population. This figure is expected to increase to 60 per cent by 2047, meaning there will be more than 1 billion middle-class Indians by the middle of the century.

However, Indian tourists spent US$33.3 billion in 2023, and many destinations are recognising their potential. In April, for example, Japan introduced a new e-visa system for Indian tourists in the hopes of increasing arrivals.

Two months earlier, Dubai created a five-year, multi-entry tourist visa tailored to Indian visitors, while nations including Malaysia, Kenya, Thailand and Iran have completely scrapped visa requirements for Indian tourists.