BANGKOK: A new report released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Visa International has revealed the growth of the outbound market from India.
Titled Total Tourism India, the 280-page report is an analysis of India’s tourism sector.
The report reviews all aspects of India’s inbound, outbound and domestic tourism flows, and outlines a seven-point action plan to advance India’s tourism development in achieving the sector’s full potential.
The report shows that international outbound trips by resident nationals peaked at around 8.3 million in 2006. Close to three million arrivals were to Asia Pacific destinations, making India the region’s fourth largest source market behind China, Japan and Korea.
This is expected to rise to over 3.6 million in 2007 and then increase by more than 10 per cent each year to 2009.
The top five destinations by percentage growth to 2009 will be Macau, Papua New Guinea, China, Cambodia and Malaysia. For volume growth over the same period, the top five will be Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the USA.
“In very many ways, India is a market of incredible opportunity,” said PATA chief executive, Peter de Jong.
Findings from surveys show that Mumbai is the leading source of India’s outbound travellers with a market share of around 33 per cent, followed by Delhi at 26 per cent.
In 2006, international inbound travel to India peaked at a record 4.4 million arrivals, driven in large part by the successful re-positioning of the destination brand through the Incredible India marketing campaign.
PATA’s Total Tourism India report can now be purchased online at www.PATA.org/catalogue. For more information, visit www.PATA.org/catalogue or email [email protected].
