Sri Lanka to make comeback as popular destination for Indians

Sri Lanka, the ?pearl of Indian Ocean?, will soon make a comeback as a popular destination for Indians, the Indian media quoted travel companies in India as saying.

Indians shelled out nearly $10 billion in overseas travel in the first nine months of the ongoing fiscal, more than any full financial year, the Times of India (TOI) reported.

Data shows that the highest spend in this category in any fiscal year was in FY20 when $7 billion was spent on foreign tours by Indians.

According to the latest data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Indians spent $1,137 million on travel in December 2022 alone. This takes the total spend on cross-border holidays between April and December 2022 to $9,947 million.

The dollar splurge is primarily driven by wanderlust, with the share of travel rising to 51% of international spending in FY23 compared to 35% in FY22, which was in line with earlier years except for FY21 when it fell to 25% due to the pandemic, the TOI report said.

Internationally, destinations like Vietnam are fast gaining popularity among Indian families, thanks to better accessibility and connectivity with direct flights and faster e-visa processing.

Destinations such as Dubai and Bali, which have always been popular among Indians, have ?become overcrowded and frightfully expensive while Vietnam is much cheaper?, said Rekha Melwani, director at hospitality firm Right Connections.

Travel companies and tour operators say Sri Lanka, the ?pearl of Indian Ocean?, will soon make a comeback as a popular destination for Indians, recovering from its economic doldrums. Locations like Abu Dhabi?s Yas Island and Kazakhstan are also expected to join the next go-to destinations for Indians, said Vipul Prakash, chief operating officer of travel company MakeMyTrip.

?We have been seeing an increased enthusiasm for exploring newer and lesser known destinations,? said Amanpreet Bajaj, holiday home rental major Airbnb?s general manager for India, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

?More than two years since the start of the pandemic, we continue to see fundamental shifts in travel that are creating tangible opportunities for communities that lay off-the-beaten track,? he said. (Colombo Gazette / The Economic Times)