Another wrap-up

The year started with the Union Ministry of Tourism declaring 2023 as Visit India Year, a campaign that was started to support the momentum expected from India’s G20 Presidency in terms of tourism. The country hosted delegates from across the world and showcased various destinations and meeting venues across the country. This included four Tourism Working Group (TWG) meetings followed by a ministerial meeting where the Goa Roadmap for tourism was also released.

Apart from that, the budget and a post-budget seminar promised a number of initiatives, despite TCS being a bone of contention. One such initiative was the Global Tourism Investors Summit. However, the event was postponed and no word has come about it untill now. The same goes for the much-hyped National Tourism Board. However, chintan shivir for tourism, regular meetings and events on M!CE and industry roundtables are happening to discuss the way forward, while no word is being uttered about overseas promotions, which was delegated to tourism officers sitting in Indian embassies abroad. 'Travel for LiFE' remains the main campaign as of now and we hope it works to create the right buzz about India internationally. When it comes to international travel, Indians are not shying away from exploring new destinations or getting to know existing destinations in a new way. While visa remained an issue for many destinations, others made it super easy for Indians. The outbound travel potential and spending power of Indians is coveted by all NTOs and everyone wants the share of this pie. This interest is not just limited for leisure travel, but for M!CE and weddings segment as well. All these developments of this year, whether they were positive or not, are building blocks for what happens next year and from what it looks like, it’d be a great year for travel business. We are keeping our fingers crossed.