TravTalk India Online Magazine
As we step into 2025, the global landscape is poised for transformative growth. Against this backdrop, industry is gearing up to tackle emerging challenges and seize opportunities.
Rajiv Mehra, President, IATO
The IATO expects robust growth in inbound tourism for 2025, driven by improved infrastructure, streamlined visa policies, and increased global connectivity. Key priorities include promoting India as a year-round destination, leveraging digital marketing, and enhancing collaboration with state tourism boards. IATO anticipates significant boosts from events like G20 follow-ups, spiritual tourism, and eco-tourism initiatives.
Himanshu Patil, President, OTOAI
2025 looks set to be an exciting year for outbound travel from India. More travellers are looking for unique and meaningful experiences, going beyond popular tourist spots to explore offbeat destinations, luxury adventures, experiential travel. Social media is having a big influence, inspiring people to discover new places and share their journeys.
Ajay Prakash, National President, TAFI
In 2025, our aim is to strengthen the no-waste policy within the association and among our members. The other thing that we are working on is an insurance scheme for our members. Interestingly, we have a proposal, which we are studying, where even the small agent would be able to offer their clients the facility to fly now and pay later. Travel does remain a discretionary spend. And the younger generation is all about EMIs. So we thought we should take advantage of this.
Ved Khanna, President, ADTOI
ADTOI currently boasts more than 1,000 members across India. However, the share of tour operators approved by the MOT is under 10 per cent. We are actively advocating safeguarding the interests of our members who provide services in domestic tourism. After taking on the role of president, I established a committee with the primary goal of increasing the number of MOT-approved tour operators to over 200.
Sanjeev Mehra, President, Skål International India
At Skål International India, our main objective is to grow our membership and improve business prospects. We intend to make a substantial impact by facilitating additional networking events among our colleagues and linking each club and state throughout India. As the largest association in the world, Skål offers tremendous potential for the hospitality sector. By fostering partnerships with the media, we aim to form significant business growth and enhance our networking initiatives.
Kanwarjeet Singh Sawhney, General Secretary, ITTA
India is experiencing a significant increase in religious and medical tourism. Religious tourism is attracting visitors to the country’s spiritual centres, while medical tourism has seen a rise in travellers from Africa, the Middle East, and other areas in search of high-quality healthcare services. Hospitals in India are bustling with international patients, largely due to India’s proficient medical professionals.
Gajesh Girdhar, National Coordinator, NIMA
The MICE segment constitutes a broad and varied area within the tourism industry, including inbound, outbound, and domestic travel. To effectively navigate this extensive segment, collaboration among multiple associations is crucial. NIMA understands that tackling the challenges of MICE requires a unified approach among stakeholders; therefore, collective efforts are necessary. With the rapid infrastructure development, India is set to host larger events.
Manoj Singh, Country Head- India, Norwegian Cruise Line
Moving into 2025, we aim to offer more diverse itineraries, focusing on guest experiences. As part of our vision to provide our guests with more of what they love, NCL continues to innovate with a soon-to-be 20-ship fleet, offering unique onboard experiences like industry-first racetracks, award-winning spas and expanded outdoor spaces. Guests can look forward to the debut of Norwegian Aqua and Norwegian Luna.
Sunil Kumar, President, TAAI
As we prepare to celebrate ’75 Years of TAAI’ in 2026, we are set to kick off a year-long celebration in early 2025, a year in advance to ensure the initiative evolves with significance and transitions into a major industry event. This initiative aims to recognise our legacy and achievements. With new year coming, we intend to highlight our focus on the association’s role in fostering collaboration between us and the industry, enhancing our relevance.
Shivani Singh Deo, Country Manager- India, Virgin Atlantic
2024 was a dynamic year for the Indian aviation sector, marked by robust growth in domestic and international travel. For Virgin Atlantic, this positive momentum, coupled with our 40th anniversary celebrations, underscored the resilience and potential of India as our key market. Our ambitious growth plans for 2025, with almost a million seats available in India, reflect our confidence in the long-term prospects of this market.
Yummi Talwar, Chief Operating Officer, South Asia, VFS Global
In line with the trends of 2024, we expect the demand to continue into 2025. To cater to the increase in demand, we have invested in digital products to elevate the experience of our visa applicants. Demand for services such as Visa At Your Doorstep is expected to grow as people prefer to enrol for their biometrics and process their visa applications at the place and convenience of their choice. We started Temporary Service Points for UK Visas in 12 locations in 2024.
Rajesh Kakade, Founder & CEO, Red Planner
The key trends in 2025 include strong growth in luxury vacations and increased demand for travel to unusual destinations. People nowadays do not enjoy hurrying around on their most expensive vacation. Though we passionately believe in conventional business with a personal touch, in light of the new dynamics, creative thinking, and instant knowledge, we began working on technology alongside tradition.
Abhishek Sonthalia, Managing Director, Turtle Down Under
In 2024, we learned a lot that we would like to build upon in 2025. Our first focus will be on providing training and knowledge to our travel agents by hosting at least one webinar each month featuring suppliers as speakers. Additionally, we aim to enhance our technology to enable travel agents to book activities, car rentals, and transportation in real-time online. In 2025, our plans at Turtle Down Under are centred around expanding reach in the European and Southeast Asian markets.
Noriah Jaafar, Director, Tourism Malaysia, Mumbai Office
Our 2025 plan will focus on positioning Malaysia as an affordable destination, using social media to produce engaging content that highlights the nation’s distinctive features, and actively promoting our Visit Malaysia Year 2026 campaign. This strategy seeks to promote travel, raise awareness and sustainable tourism of Malaysia, particularly among younger, tech-savvy tourists. Priority will to expand into tier II and III cities throughout India.
Arjun Baljee, President, ROHL
In 2025, ROHL will focus on three broad pillars: Expansion and diversification, sustainability and community engagement. We plan to add new properties across tier II and tier III cities, aligning with the growing demand for affordable luxury in underserved markets. Strengthening our commitment to eco-friendly operations, we aim to introduce more green initiatives, including energy-efficient infrastructure and sustainable F&B practices, while promoting local jobs and community development.
SD Nandakumar, President & Country Head – Holidays and Corporate Tours, SOTC Travel
Over our 75-year history, SOTC has witnessed the evolution of the Indian traveller, especially with the growing demand from tier II, III, and IV markets. With strong travel intent, high disposable income, and a desire for meaningful holidays, these regions are now key growth drivers for us. Travel is no longer restricted to a particular season, and Indians are seizing every opportunity to explore both domestic and international destinations.
Chirag Agarwal, Co-founder & COO, TravClan
2024 has been a transformative year for the travel industry, highlighting key trends that will shape our approach in 2025. Travellers are increasingly exploring new and unique destinations, with many upgrading from domestic to short-haul international trips. The frequency of travel among Indians is rising, and we are seeing a surge in first-time travellers seeking guidance—emphasising the critical role of travel agents. Agents and travellers are becoming tech-savvy.
Alok K Singh, Co-founder and CEO, Travomint
2025 is set to be a transformative year as we continue to redefine the travel experience for our customers. Our commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction drives every step of our journey, ensuring travellers can explore the world effortlessly and without breaking the bank. Enhancing customer experience is one of our primary goals. Also investing in advanced technologies like AI.
Pranav Kapadia, Founder and Director, Global Destinations
Global Destinations is gearing up for a transformative 2025, driven by innovation and a commitment to growth. Our focus is on redefining event-based travel by offering curated, exclusive experiences tied to global music festivals, sporting events, and cultural celebrations. These packages will specifically cater to younger, experience-driven travellers seeking meaningful connections through unique journeys. Sustainability remains at the heart of our vision. We are forging tie-ups.
Neeti Sharma, Director, Intrepid Marketing and Communications
In 2025, we expect significant growth and expansion in our tourism efforts. Our primary goal is to expand our tourism portfolio and serve more tourism boards and hospitality brands, which will allow us to diversify our offerings to meet the evolving needs of travelers. We will also continue to participate in key trade shows, organising more roadshows, and fostering strategic tie-ups with influencers and media to target niche audiences.
Beate M Kakkar, Managing Director, Indiva Marketing
On behalf of our destination and hotel clients, we are planning to work more closely with all key travel catalysts – art, food and sports. We would like to associate with key quality events across India which cater to people who are eager to explore and know what they are looking for. Yet keep an open mind and curiosity to add new aspects and experiences, especially when they are travelling abroad. We identified multiple opportunities and will continue to be proactive.
Manoj Dharmani, Group CEO, DuDigital Global
The tourism industry will focus heavily on resilience and adaptability to navigate an ever-evolving landscape. The key to sustainable growth lies in embracing strategies that support both recovery and forward momentum. This begins with an industry-wide commitment to digital transformation. By making visa processing faster, more secure, and user-friendly, we can enhance trust, improve experiences, and encourage travellers both from India and abroad.
Kush Kapoor, CEO, Roseate Hotels and Resorts
Rosetta Hotels is gearing up to redefine luxury and sustainability with its upcoming projects. The first milestone Rosetta Noida is set to debut near Jewar International Airport in December 2025, shortly after the airport becomes operational. Touted as the smartest hotel globally in terms of technology and eco-friendly practices, it aims to set new benchmarks. Beyond Noida, Rosetta is initiating construction of a world-class luxury resort in South Goa.
Sumit Prakash, Country Director (India & South Asia), Collinson International
We have been operating in India for close to 20 years and India is an extremely important market for us. Over the last few years, we have strengthened our partnerships and established new ones, with several leading financial services institutions in India, such as NPCI (RuPay), Federal Bank, HDFC, working in partnership to enhance their customer engagement propositions through incorporating travel-related rewards and benefits.
Jatinder Paul Singh, CEO and Co-founder, Viacations
As we close the year, India’s travel industry is soaring to new levels, fuelled by rapid economic growth, a rising middle class, and changing traveller preferences. According to the Ministry of Tourism, India’s tourism sector accounted for 7.9 per cent of the GDP in recent years and is expected to exceed 10 per cent in the next decade. India is also positioned 39th in the World Economic Forum’s 2024 Travel and Tourism Development Index. Emerging trends include rural and eco-tourism.
Rajesh Arya, President, GAEHP
The government should prioritise building new airports through private participation and expanding rail, road, and waterway networks. Infrastructure development is also needed in high-growth areas like religious circuits and under-utilised destinations like Lakshadweep. Additionally, we urge the Union government to consider a uniform GST rate of 12 per cent on hotels to simplify the compliance process.
Compiled by TT Bureau
