India Allows Visa-on-Arrival for 3 Countries – India Report

India now allows nationals from Japan, South Korea, and the United Arab Emirates to get a visa-on-arrival for tourism, business, conferences, and medical purposes. The visa will be valid for 60 days, and travelers will be able to visit India up to two times during that period. 

The facility is currently available at six airports: Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. 

India also offers e-visas with electronic travel authorization (ETA) to citizens from 167 countries for these four categories.  

International Travel to India: In 2023, more than 9.2 million foreign tourists visited India, up 44% from 2022, according to the government’s latest Economic Survey for 2023-24. However, this figure has still not recovered to the pre-pandemic figure of over 10.9 million in 2019. 

Last year, India earned INR 2.3 trillion ($27.5 billion) in foreign exchange through tourism. While this was 66% higher than 2022, according to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), international visitor spending last year was over 14% behind the 2019 levels. 

Small Steps: In the Indian budget announced last month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the focus would be on making India a global destination. 

Perhaps to this end, last month, India made its e-tourist visa free for Malaysian nationals, allowing them to obtain a 30-day double entry e-tourist visa for free between July 1, 2024, till June 30 next year. India also issued a similar visa waiver for Thai passport holders till the end of 2024.

However, these are small steps to boost international tourism, along with India’s participation in international trade shows. Even with a goal to make India a global destination, the government made no change in the global promotion budget, which had been earlier reduced by 97% in the interim budget announced in February.

Oyo Has Big Plans for Sunday Brand

Hotel aggregator and operator Oyo has announced it plans to open 25 new hotels in India under its premium Sunday brand by March 2025. For its expansion, the company has decided on Gurgaon, Manesar, and Corbett as the next three locations. 

Launched in 2023, the Sunday brand is a joint venture between the Softbank Group and Oyo’s parent company Oravel Stays. Currently, three hotels across Jaipur, Vadodara, and Chandigarh are operational under Sunday. 

Oyo had started as a budget hotel aggregator, but has been moving towards premium offerings recently. Last year, the company launched premium hotels and resorts brand Palette, with the aim of having a total of 50 hotels under it by the second quarter of 2024. 

Oyo has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in equity and debt over the years, with most of it going towards rapid expansion in different sectors of the business. The 2024 fiscal marked Oyo’s first-ever profitable year, with the company having a net income of nearly $12 million. 

IndiGo’s Business Class and Loyalty Program Launch Dates

IndiGo is set to launch its business class service – IndiGoStretch – on the Delhi-Mumbai route starting mid-November, Skift Asia Editor Peden Doma Bhutia reports. The airline has also unveiled its loyalty program IndiGo BluChip. 

IndiGo’s decision to introduce a business class service aligns with its wider priorities. The airline’s vision sees it tapping into the growing demands of India’s rapidly evolving economy and its changing consumer expectations. 

In a departure from its traditional no-frills service, IndiGoStretch customers will enjoy complimentary perks, including a curated meal box from Oberoi Catering Services, a no-convenience fee policy, priority check-in, and advance seat selection at no extra charge.

IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers had earlier told Skift that the airline would stay faithful to the IndiGo brand and that it’s the right time for an “IndiGo-like product” to serve a new wave of Indian air travelers.

Air India Express Launches Virtual Interlining Platform

Budget airline Air India Express has launched a virtual interlining platform called AIX Connect. The platform will allow customers to book connecting flights where one leg of the journey is operated by Air India Express and the other leg by its partner airline.

The first airline to partner with Air India Express for this initiative is Singapore-based Scoot. The partnership would expand the connectivity of the Air India Express customers to Australia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

The move comes less than a month after Air India Express partnered with online travel agency MakeMyTrip to launch Xpress Holidays – a platform that would allow travelers to book end-to-end holiday packages. 

Cygnett Hotels Launches Cozzet Hotel in Sonipat

Indian hospitality chain Cygnett Hotels and Resorts has opened Cozzet Sonipat in Haryana. The hotel has been opened under the hotel chain’s budget brand Cozzet. 

At present, the company has 25 operational hotels, with 15 others in the pre-opening stage. It aims to have 33 operational hotels in its portfolio by the end of this year. 

“We will soon open doors for our guests in destinations like Jaipur, Jamshedpur, Mahad, Puri, and Dibrugarh this year. We will continue to explore destinations with a demand for branded, value-for-money hotels,” said Sarbendra Sarkar, founder and managing director of Cygnett Hotels and Resorts.

India Needs More Than 2 Airlines: IndiGo Managing Director

IndiGo managing director and shareholder Rahul Bhatia has spoken up about the fact that India currently has two major airlines – IndiGo and the Air India group. He said that a country like India deserves more than two airlines. 

In comparison, China has five to six major airlines, he added. According to data from aviation consultancy firm OAG, the top 10 airlines in China have a market share ranging from 3-15%. 

In India, IndiGo held a market share of about 61% in the domestic market in the April to June quarter. The Air India group, including Vistara, was a distant second at a nearly 29% market share. 

Bhatia said that IndiGo’s market share domination was not entirely due to its own ability, as over the past 12 years, three Indian airlines went bankrupt: Kingfisher, Jet Airways, and GoFirst. Apart from this, low-cost carrier SpiceJet has also been facing financial and legal difficulties.