During the festival season between September and November, India is likely to witness over 25.26 lakh inbound international travellers through Delhi and Mumbai airports, according to RateGain PULSE Report. Of this, over 62.3 per cent of the passengers are likely to come from Delhi airport.
According to the latest Airline Travelers’ Forecast, which is part of RateGain’s Demand-AI, New Delhi is expected to record a 17 per cent rise in arrivals compared with the same period in 2019 from both international and domestic travellers.
According to the report, there will be a steady influx of international inbound tourists between September and November. In September, over 8.06 lakh international travellers are likely to visit India, of which, 4.84 lakh passengers will be from Delhi airport and Mumbai airport will witness 3.22 lakh passengers.
In October, Delhi will see an influx of 5.3 lakh inbound travellers, whereas Mumbai will cater to 2.96 lakh taking the total inbound passengers through these airports to 8.29 lakh passengers. November will witness close to 9 lakh inbound travellers. Delhi will take see a large chunk of 5.61 lakh travellers, whereas Mumbai will be lagging behind with 3.30 lakh passengers.
Most international inbound passengers will come from the North American region, followed by the APAC region, Europe, and West Asian region. Most inbound tourists are likely to come in November.
On a month-on-month basis between October to November, Delhi will see a rise of 15-24 per cent inbound tourists from North America, between 2-13 per cent from the APAC region, and 3-12 per cent from Europe region. In September, Mumbai is likely to receive more passengers from West Asia.
“With Diwali celebrated on a grand scale in Northern India, the National Capital is expected to witness a surge in travellers from multiple regions of the world. The upward trend doesn’t stop in October, but continues in November as well when the flight rates go cheaper compared to the pre-Diwali rush around mid-October. The surge in November’s Airport traffic can also be attributed to Indians coming back home after spending extended Diwali holidays in other countries and cities,” said RateGain in its report.
Delhi hosts India International Trade Fair in November, which attracts not only domestic travellers but also from across the globe, the report stated.
While there is a surge of people travelling within India, there are several who like to spend their holidays abroad. Between August and November, several Indian students also go abroad to various countries for education.
Speaking about outbound travel, the report stated that Indians are likely to travel to Singapore, Melbourne, Brisbane and Bali. The highest number of outbound travellers will be in November. According to RateGain’s data, over 1.52 lakh people are likely to travel to Singapore in November followed by 32 thousand people are likely to travel to Melbourne in the same month.
“In October & November, a surge is seen in Indian travelers to Australia, Bali & Singapore. The biggest drawer of travel to APAC region will be the 2022 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Originally, the tournament was to be held in 2020 but got postponed due to the pandemic,” the report stated.