India is experiencing massive growth in outbound travel
Where travel is concerned the market in India is growing at a tremendous rate and the potential for further growth is simply staggering.
According to recent figures outbound travellers in India spent in excess of $19.2 billion on tourism. It has reached the top 20 countries in the world in terms of outbound tourism expenditure – figures supplied by the WTO (World Tourism Organisation).
A closer look at the figures reveals that in India around $876 is spent per person on travel. OK, so while that may not compare to other emerging markets total expenditure has been growing very quickly. So it wont be long before we see these figures start to rise dramatically.
CNN Money reported back in May that the world’s fastest growing economy is getting even hotter. The country’s GDP grew by 7.7% in the qtr ending March, that’s almost 1% more than the previous quarter.
If this continues – and at the moment there is no reason to think it won’t – the Indian market will experience a boom in the next 10 years. Between 1996 and 2016 expenditure growth rate in outbound tourism was greater than China at 23% (figs according to Skift)
These are exciting times for India and we are seeing a big drive in the development of technology and platforms in travel. The TAAI (Travel Agents Association of India) recently partnered with TPConnects to deliver first class online services for over 10,000 travel agents across the country. Expect to see more deals like this and the explosion of new start-ups in the coming months. Just look at the big travel shows to give you an idea.