South East Asia sees growing number of Indians from tier II and III cities

NEW DELHI: Packing your bags for a holiday this summer? Then here's some food for thought: Some of the preferred destinations for first time travellers include Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Dubai because of easy access. Close to half the Indians that visit Singapore are visitors from tier-II and tier - III cities in India. There has been a significant rise in numbers of travelers from India in the country. And it's not just seasoned travellers who like returning to south-east Asia, but first time travellers too.

Chee Pey Chang, executive director, south Asia of Singapore Tourism Board says India has consistently emerged as one of the top five performing markets for Singapore in the last five years and the growing affluence of the country’s middle class in emerging cities such as Ahmedabad, Pune, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Kochi and Coimbatore has been a significant contributing factor towards outbound travel.

Malaysia too for instance, received 6.9 lakh Indians last year. Says Manoharan, director Tourism Malaysia, "Seventy percent Mayalsian vistors are first time travellers and Indians from tier - II and III cities form a large part of our arrivals. Another factor that has helped boost tourism for us is the rupee devaluation. Geographically, we get a lot of tourists from tier II cities like Hyderabad, Chennai and Trichy.

Tier II and III cities have been a key source markets for Singapore in terms of visitor arrivals and tourism receipts. In the last three years, Singapore has received 40 - 45% visitors only from this segment. This percentage has increased from about 30% percent five years ago, says a spokesperson of Kuoni India.