About India Outbound Magazine

India Outbound, a brand of Media India Group, is India’s only B2B travel media platform, that encompasses a print magazine, a website, an online TV channel and dynamic social media platforms, entirely dedicated to the promotion of foreign destinations and products in India. India Outbound is a niche platform not just for tourism destinations and products to promote themselves to the Indian travel industry, but also for decision makers to build/change their strategy in a context where the Indian outbound market is not only growing but changing with new dynamics. India Outbound brings to you the latest trends of the market with in depth analysis.

Budget 2021-22 sends a shock wave to travel and tourism industry of India

The travel industry of India has expressed grave discontent with tourism being completely ignored by the union budget presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. The industry leaders say that since the outbreak of the pandemic there have been countless meetings, discussions, applications, report submissions, pleading and perusals by all the top travel associations of India to tourism and finance ministries seeking some government intervention with some immediate financial aid to save the shattered tourism, hospitality and tourism industry at large. But it seems all efforts have gone down the drain.

Tourism contributes a significant 10 pc to India's GDP and plays a vital role in generating employment. Budget 2021-22 has been a damp squib for the tourism industry that was eagerly looking forward to hearing news of some relief to save the tourism sector. But utterly disappointing the travel trade, the tourism allocation has been reduced by nearly 18 pc, from INR 25 billion in 2020-2021 to INR 20.32 billion this year.

“We expected much more than what was announced. Union Budget 2021 has focused more on spending to enable economic growth through infrastructure roads and financial remedies. Travel, tourism and hospitality was completely neglected,” said Jyoti Mayal, President of Travel Agents Association of India (TAAI).

“It is an extremely disappointing budget for the tourism sector. On the whole, there have been numerous investments in various sectors and pumping of money in infrastructural development but the fact that tourism was completely ignored is extremely disheartening. The tourism sector needed some immediate relief,” commented Riaz Munshi, President of Outbound Tour Operators Association of India (OTOAI).

“It was heart-breaking to say the least. We do not know how to go forward from here,” said Vishwas Makhija, President of Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI).

“Lack of immediate direct support in the Budget has disappointed the Indian travel and tourism industry. While infrastructure measure announced in the Budget may boost tourism over long-term, the opportunity for immediate support has regretfully been missed out,” opined Nakul Anand, Chairman of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH).

Saudi Arabia bans travellers from 20 countries including India

Saudi Arabia has suspended entry from 20 countries including India from February 3 to combat the spread of Covid-19 in the country. However, the ban doesn’t apply to Saudi citizens, diplomats, medical practitioners and their families. The ban also includes Lebanon, Turkey, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland. Apart from the US and India, travellers from Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Pakistan and South Africa have also been barred from entering the country. The temporary ban will also apply to travellers who passed through the 20 banned countries during the 14 days preceding the implementation of the ban, Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry said.

TAT's SEXY concept to promote safe and sustainable travel under new normal

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is planning a tourism recovery strategy aimed at promoting safe and sustainable travel in Thailand’s new normal post-Covid-19 era, under a ‘SEXY’ tourism concept. To be rolled out during 2021-2022, the ‘SEXY’ tourism concept is in response to the changes in travel behaviour and TAT’s goal to restore Thailand’s tourism: S – Safety and Hygiene, E – Environmental Sustainability, X – Extra Experiences, and Y – Yield.

“All four key focuses under this ‘SEXY’ tourism concept reflect Thailand’s current new normal tourism direction towards safe and sustainable travel. This will help restore travellers’ confidence while driving recovery for both the Thai economy and the tourism industry to make a comeback stronger than ever,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, TAT Governor. S stands for safety and public hygiene which has become a new norm for people all over the world. This is backed by the existing Amazing Thailand Safety and Health Administration (SHA), a public-private sector co-operation to promote health and well-being for all in the country.

E means environmental sustainability and reflects TAT’s existing strategy on sustainable tourism development, including past initiatives like Thai wildlife conservation, the ‘Upcycling the Oceans Thailand’ clean-up effort, and ‘Thailand Reduce Waste’ campaign, etc.

X refers to extra experiences and is in line with TAT’s existing strategy to introduce brand new products to visitors or reveal a new charming character of well-known destinations through creativity. This also means extra public health safety reflecting Thailand’s ability to control the epidemic, and also the Amazing Thailand SHA initiative.

Y is for yield, a high-value form of tourism from a group of people with high-spending potential. This also reflects TAT’s existing strategy to move the Thai tourism industry out of mass tourism and towards responsible tourism with an emphasis on revenue-generating quality tourists.

Promperu conducts training sessions for the Indian travel trade

India office of Promperu – the Peruvian Commission for the Promotion of Export and Tourism - recently concluded an exclusive training programme for the Indian travel agents and operators. These training sessions imparted through webinars emphasised on the diversification of tourism in Peru. The objective of these networking sessions was to introduce Peru as the “richest” destination in the world to the Indian market.

Six webinar sessions were attended by more than 1,000 Indian travel agents and tour operators. The webinar series, which included a detailed presentation on Peru beyond Machu Picchu and an exhaustive question-answer session was conducted by Luis Cabello, Trade and Tourism Counsellor and Aromica Bhattacharya, Specialist in Tourism, from Promperu India Office.

“India holds enormous potential as a source market for Peru. As an outbound destination, Peru offers a lot of business opportunities to the Indian market, beyond Machu Picchu, which is part of almost all bucket lists. However, this is an opportunity for the Indian travel industry to better understand the various ways of incorporating unique excursions that Peru has to offer to every discerning Indian traveller, beyond Machu Picchu. Our detailed sessions are designed so as to educate the trade about Peruvian culture and history, our award-winning gastronomy and hospitality, and the splendid nightlife,” said Cabello.

India Outbound is a publication of Media India Group