In 2022, India’s outbound travel market made an above-average recovery, for the first time generating Asia’s highest outbound travel volume, with foreign trips exceeding those of China, South Korea and Japan. Compared with pre-pandemic figures they reached slightly more than half of the travel volume achieved in 2019.
With people keen to travel in 2023, the stage is set for a further recovery this year.Above-average increase in India’s outbound travel volume in 2022
IPK’s World Travel Monitor® registered a 190 per cent year-on-year rise in Indian outbound travel in 2022, significantly higher than the average global increase of 90 per cent. With around ten million foreign trips, India is thus the leading Asian source market for outbound travel. In 2019 India ranked fifth behind China, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. A comparison between 2022 and 2019 outbound travel shows that travel volume last year reached pre-pandemic figures by more than half (55 per cent). Put in a global context, although the Indian market performed slightly below average (66 per cent of pre-pandemic levels) it was much better than other Asian markets, where on average the travel volume in 2022 reached only 25 per cent of 2019 figures.
Destination India in 2022
Regarding trips to India from around the world, developments in 2022 were above average at 150 per cent. As a result, India is the third most popular travel destination in Asia. The primary source markets last year were the USA, UK and UAE.
India’s favourite destinations in 2022
A look at India’s favourite travel destinations in 2022 shows that Dubai ranked first, followed by the USA, Thailand, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. Overall, around 70 per cent of travellers in India undertook trips in Asia, which compared with the previous year’s figures increased by more than 250 per cent. Europe and America each accounted for around 15 per cent of trips.
According to IPK’s Destination Performance Index (DPI), in 2022 Thailand, Abu Dhabi and Dubai were India’s preferred travel destinations. In that context, the DPI took travel satisfaction, recommendations and the desire to revisit a destination into account for all Indian outbound travel around the world.
Overall, the Indian source market has the highest DPI (70) in Asia. This shows that foreign travel enjoys a high standing in society, that Indians are extremely satisfied with their travel experience and that they are keen to show this and share it with others. The desire to revisit a destination is not so marked, as travellers are more likely to want to tour and discover other places.
Tags: IPK’s Destination Performance Index (DPI), ITB Berlin, IPK International’s World Travel Monitor
