Bookings for no-visa destinations observes rise among Indian tourists this summer

Bookings for no visa destinations are seeing a substantial upswing from India this summer, travel industry insiders said.

Young Indians are driving a surge in travel to Thailand, as per Airbnb, with Gen Z and millennials accounting for 80% of bookings by Indian guests on Airbnb in the country. The company said during the Easter and Holi long weekends, searches by Indian guests for stays in Thailand increased over 200%. Thailand has announced an extension of the visa free policy for Indians till November 11 this year.

Cordelia Cruises is anticipating hosting about 15,000 passengers on its Chennai to Sri Lanka sailing this month and about 25,000 in August this year, said Jurgen Bailom, president and CEO of Cordelia Cruises. “We had considered this sailing two years ago, but postponed it to last year considering the situation in Sri Lanka. We thought of starting this sailing in June last year when it’s monsoon time on this side of the coast,” he said. “The no visa policy has certainly helped drive numbers. The current route includes destinations such as Trincomalee, Hambantota and Jaffna in Sri Lanka, and we are planning to add more itineraries from Chennai to Sri Lanka next year,” he added.


Aloke Bajpai, chairman, MD and group CEO of ixigo said the company has seen flight searches to popular visa free destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Mauritius increase by 50-80% this month compared to February this year. “Travel to neighbouring Asian countries such as Bhutan and Nepal recorded a significant uptick of over 100%,” he added.

A MakeMyTrip spokesperson said countries with a visa free entry are seeing a 27% year on year growth in searches. Yatra is foreseeing a 15-20% growth in bookings for destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia and Nepal as per Bharatt Malik, senior VP, air and hotel business at Yatra Online.

Short haul markets with no visa or easy visa regimes are not just powering India’s travel story, but are now serving to extend the traditional season into a year round opportunity, said Rajeev Kale, president and country head for holidays, MICE and Visa at Thomas Cook (India). He said for Thomas Cook, South East Asia has seen a strong 25-55% continuum in demand with the no visa strategy of Thailand, Malaysia and Sri Lanka being significant catalysts.

A lot of people are preferring these markets after having dropped plans of visiting Schengen countries, said Ajay Prakash, board member of Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality (FAITH).

Visas are a critical element in outbound travel, and with the shortening of booking windows, no visa entry policies and e visas have been the game changers for a lot of travellers, said Daniel D’Souza, president and country head for holidays at SOTC Travel. Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Indonesia at Booking.com said Indians are traveling to new and popular Asia Pacific destinations that offer visa-free entry this June.

"Countries such as Kazakhstan (120%), Malaysia (85%), HongKong (65%), Thailand (35%) and Sri Lanka (30%) that are offering visa exemptions to Indian passport holders are experiencing a surge in searches as compared to the same time last year," he said.

"Destinations such as Phuket, Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok are in the top ten most searched destinations this month," he added.