Newly wealthy Indians are now said to be the fastest-growing market in global tourism as they explore far-flung destinations from Antarctica to the Amazon.
India became Asia’s largest source of international travelers for the first time in 2022, with tourist numbers surpassing those from China, South Korea and Japan.
Some 27 million Indians are now going abroad, a figure that is expected to double to almost 70 million by 2030, according to the Bollywood star. Deepti Bhatnagar.
Bhatnagar, who has become one of India’s most popular travel experts, said tourists are particularly attracted to sites such as Machu Picchu in Peru and Hallstatt in Austria, which is said to have been the inspiration for Arendelle in the Disney movie Frozen.
He added that more Indians now have the money to travel abroad and spoke of a “box-ticking” culture among the younger generation, where they want to get the perfect selfie or video to show off to their friends and followers on Instagram.
Tourism in India is also increasing, particularly for religious travel, and the country’s airlines last year ordered more than 1,000 new planes to meet additional demand.
Bollywood actress Deepti Bhatnagar encouraged Indians to visit Hallstatt in Austria
Hallstatt is a lakeside town in Upper Austria that is often praised for its incredible views.
The topic was examined in the new BBC Radio 4 Podcast The Tourist Trapin which travel documentary host Rajan Datar discusses the “relentless rise in global tourism.”
He attended the Luxury Tribe luxury tourism fair in New Delhi and said it was clear that “millions more Indians now have the money and desire to travel the world.”
Bhatnagar, 56, who started India’s first travel TV show more than 20 years ago, told Datar that he had seen a “huge change from then to now”.
And he added: ‘Now there are so many Indians who go to Antarctica. They want to travel to the Amazon, they want to travel to Machu Pichu.
‘In 2000, when I started a travel diary, people had the dream of traveling. But today they travel everywhere and want to see new places.’
Bhatnagar also spoke about the rise of the “non-budget luxury traveler.”
The Amazon is now popular with Indians too, with this travelogue from ‘The Punjabi Wanderer’
The Peruvian port city of Iquitos is the gateway to the tribal villages of the northern Amazon
He said there are now “many weddings taking place around the world”, and some travelers request 300 black Mercedes S-Class cars for their trips.
Speaking of a 50th birthday party in Austria, Bhatnagar added: “They took over the whole main street, and then Schönbrunn Palace, even the train stations, because all the train tracks became a ‘happy 50th’. birthday'”.
In 2022, India became Asia’s largest source of international travelers for the first time, according to tourism consultancy IPK International.
That year, international tourists from India, the world’s most populous country, surpassed those from China, South Korea and Japan, the firm said.
India will now become the fourth largest travel spender globally by 2030, with travel and tourism expected to become a £322 billion market, an increase of around 170 per cent from £118 billion in 2019, according to Booking.com.
A YouTube travelogue written by Yatri Doctor shows how Indians also visit Antarctica
Tourists visit Antarctica on a Zodiac boat, which allows them to disembark and explore bays.
Talking about the causes of the boom, Bhatnagar said: ‘More Indians have the financial means to travel abroad. More and more of these digital Instagram sites are showing these beautiful images. That’s why I think social media is playing a very important role.
‘They want to go to a certain place to take a selfie. They believe it is one of the most photographed places and they have to be there.
‘There’s a checkbox: you have to tick this box, I’ve been to Rio, I’ve been to this place in Hallstatt. I think the younger generation tends to travel like that.’
Hallstatt is a lakeside town in Upper Austria that is often praised for its incredible views.
But it has seen a surge in tourism in recent years thanks to its ties to Frozen and its huge popularity among Instagram users.
Bhatnagar said: “I think Hallstatt is a very nice place and it was incredibly beautiful, surrounded by mountains, a beautiful lake, you can go hiking, you can experience a boat cruise ride, and when I was there I really felt serenity.” I have advised many people to go to Hallstatt.
Machu Picchu, site of ancient Inca ruins in Peru, is also becoming popular with Indians.
Indigo placed its largest commercial aircraft order in history in June last year for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035.
One of the destinations that is becoming hugely popular among Indians is the United States, where the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House to meet President Joe Biden last June, in what was seen as a turning point. turning point for bilateral relations.
And the United States is trying to adapt to this new tourism boom by opening two new consulates in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.
Through the first five months of 2023, travel from India to the United States exceeded pre-pandemic volumes, at a time when other Asian countries were lagging, particularly China, where tourists have been slow to return to the United States after of the pandemic.
Rising tourism both within and outside India saw the country’s airlines place orders for more than 1,100 aircraft during the last eight months of 2023.
Among them was the largest commercial aircraft order in history placed by Indigo in June last year: 500 Airbus A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035.
This surpassed a deal by Air India to buy 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing that same month.
Tourists are also flocking to India to visit the new Ram Mandir temple, which opened in January.
One of the destinations that is becoming very popular among Indians is the United States; The country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited the White House to meet with President Joe Biden last June.
India’s domestic tourism sector is also booming, with an additional 50 to 100 million tourists a year expected following the opening of the new Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya in January.
And many younger Indians also travel to other countries to study: 770,000 Indian students will go to study abroad in 2022, a number that grows by about 10 percent each year.
Of this total, almost 140,000 went to the United Kingdom. The Office for National Statistics has said that almost a quarter of all visas were granted to Indian citizens in 2022, the most of any nationality, and 55 per cent of them were for students.
BBC Radio 4 podcast The Tourist Trap is available on BBC Sounds