TBM Staff - Mumbai
Indian tourists are emerging as a future growth engine for global tourism, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Tourism Trends and Policies 2024 report.
The OECD noted that “outbound travel from India is emerging as a future growth engine for global tourism, with the rapid expansion of the middle classes and scaling up of air connectivity across the country.”
Despite a pickup from the pandemic years, tourist arrivals in OECD economies have not yet recovered to pre-pandemic levels, down 23% in 2022 compared to 2019. However, the report states that globally, tourist arrivals are likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with 2023 arrivals at 89% of the pre-pandemic level.
The report highlighted that international tourist arrivals have already exceeded pre-pandemic levels in some OECD countries in 2023, with European countries leading the way. Portugal, for example, welcomed a record 19.4 million international tourists in 2023, 12.1% more than in 2019.
The OECD also noted that geopolitical conflicts and tensions, such as Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and evolving conflicts in the Middle East, are impacting tourism flows and the wider tourism economy.
Indian data shows that international travel has picked up, with international passengers from India up 9.5% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019. Travel to Russia was down 40% during this period, while there was an increase in passengers to Southeast Asian economies. Inbound passengers to India were also up 8.5% during this time.
Furthermore, the report mentioned that the number of domestic airports in India has doubled, and the number of international airports has also increased, opening new opportunities for business and drawing larger visits from tourists.
