The PM’s suggestion has stirred a nest and many think it’s a hornet’s.
In a message to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent appeal asking Indians to think twice before rushing abroad for holidays and destination weddings, has nudged the travel industry into an interesting debate.
Predictably, sections of the outbound travel trade reacted nervously. But the issue deserves a calmer and more practical reading.
India today faces a curious tourism imbalance. Indians are travelling abroad in record numbers, while inbound foreign tourist arrivals are still struggling to fully regain pre-pandemic momentum. Foreign travel, once a once-in- odd chance family achievement, is now packaged as a long weekend lifestyle purchase complete with easy EMIs and airport reels.
The Indian domestic tour operator however does retain a grouse since at the same time, large parts of India remain under-promoted or poorly managed despite their enormous tourism potential. With Europe becoming painfully expensive and heat waves making several overseas destinations less attractive, domestic tourism is seeing a noticeable surge.
Yet the industry should avoid responding with either chest-thumping nationalism or defensive panic. Outbound tourism is a legitimate business that supports airlines, tour operators, visa services and hospitality brands. Indians should not be made to feel guilty for wanting to see the world. Curiosity has never damaged a civilisation.
But the government’s appeal does expose an uncomfortable truth. Many Indians often return from foreign trips only to flood social media with glowing praise for spotless streets abroad while ridiculing India’s crowds, litter and infrastructure gaps. One sees endless reels admiring Tokyo’s discipline or Singapore’s cleanliness, usually accompanied by gloomy declarations that “India can never improve.” Some criticism is fair. Some is merely fashionable despair.
The tourism industry and civic authorities cannot dismiss these perceptions as negativity. They must confront them directly. Cleanliness at destinations, waste management, crowd control, signage, public transport access and basic visitor facilities require measurable improvement. As a response to the PM’s appeal, tourism sentiment, if at all, may begin with patriotism; repeat tourism depends on convenience and trust.
To be fair, there are signs of serious investment. And hopefully they are verified. Let’s get some figures for that. The government’s ₹1,535 crore railway infrastructure push in Telangana reflects the wider focus on regional connectivity. Hotel investments in India have surged sharply. International hospitality brands are also expanding aggressively. Aviation too continues to grow, with SWISS launching nonstop Bengaluru-Zurich flights from October this year. Will that help inbound or outbound is the million-dollar question.
Stronger domestic tourism and deeper global connectivity are not contradictions.
What the industry perhaps needs now is sharper storytelling about India itself. Domestic tourism campaigns often become too generic and predictable. Today’s traveller wants experiences with personality — heritage walks, culinary trails, eco-retreats, railway journeys, local culture and meaningful regional narratives. A tourist no longer seeks only a hotel room; he seeks a story worth carrying home.
As for destination weddings, perhaps civilisation will survive if a few ceremonies shift from Tuscan vineyards to Rajasthan’s forts or Kerala’s backwaters. The wedding market in India is bog money. Perhaps it’s time to splurge that moolah within the country itself. India has enough grandeur of its own. It simply needs better management, better presentation and a little more confidence in itself.
Travel has always reflected the mood of a nation. And India today seems to be saying something rather sensible: before endlessly chasing distant horizons, perhaps look properly at the extraordinary landscape beneath your own feet.
Like it or not, I think the PM nailed it right and proper.
