The tourism boards of several countries including South Africa, Australia and Thailand are betting big on India as wanderlust and business needs take more Indians to foreign shores. India is a priority market for South African Tourism (SAT) board, which sees strong growth in both footfalls and spends by Indian tourists.
After recording 55,000 footfalls from India between March and November last year, the board expects arrivals from India to reach 70,000 in 2023-24.
Neliswa Nkani, Hub Head, Middle East, Indian and South East Asia, SAT said that India has climbed two ranks from 8th to becoming the 6th biggest source market and not too long before we see it among the top three markets.
This is the market to invest in, she added. Any countries seeking growth in tourism are not growing in and with India their lifespan will be short-lived. India is the market to reckon with, it has the budget to travel and Indians have the will to travel. Even our forward bookings for June are strong, which signals the demand among Indian travellers. It is a core market.
