'Travel sector to keep soaring'

The year that’s drawing to a close saw many more young Indians flying abroad than before, a trend that Madhavan Menon, executive chairman, Thomas Cook India, expects to continue in the years ahead. In an interview, Menon spoke about visa-free travel, hotel rates and emerging trends. Edited excerpts:

- Varuni Khosla

How was 2023 for India’s travel industry?

There is enough and more written about 2023, and it has been a great year, despite challenges of higher airfare, travel and hotel costs. We’ve seen a great year. Indian tourists have left their mark on the world in 2023, and the sort of travel we have witnessed is the start of a long-term trend. There was something that happened during the pandemic that has led to this. Thomas Cook has also had a decent year, and I can’t complain.  

Did the marquee travel events this year not have a big role to play in the domestic and in-bound travel success?

While they may have had their rub-off effect, marquee events did not have too much to do with the entire upward trend. Other than the (ODI cricket) World Cup, the Khelo India Games, G20 (summit) or the National Games had some participation but not high-level participation. Some of the spending around these events—which in my opinion is about ₹2,000 crore—is not going to change the way forward in the industry, which is doing well in any case.

How does 2024 look for the industry?