Indiaâs retail payments body National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has launched UPI One World wallet for international travelers visiting India.Â
The wallet aims to allow travelers to make payments using the instant mobile payments system Unified Payments Interface without requiring an Indian mobile number or bank account.
What Does This Mean? Introduced in 2023 during the G20 Summit in India and now being rolled out, UPI One World is a prepaid wallet that can be used to make digital payments to merchants across India in INR.Â
For Indian residents, the technology is used by linking the userâs phone number and bank account with a virtual payment ID to carry out bank-to-bank transactions instantly. It requires a user to scan a merchantâs QR code using their UPI app and enter their PIN to make the payment.
The UPI One World wallet forgoes this requirement for Indian number and bank account. According to NPCI, international travelers would be able to use the service with the help of authorized partners at Indian airports in select cities.Â
Travelers would only need to show their passports and visas as documentation. They would then be able to load the wallet in INR through their debit or credit cards or via foreign currency exchange at the issuer counter.
Increasing International Visitor Spending: Indian governmentâs latest Economic Survey for 2023-24 data showed that the countryâs foreign exchange earnings through tourism in 2023 was INR 2.3 trillion ($27.5 billion) – a 66% gain over 2022.
However, according to a recent report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), international visitor spending in India remained 14% below the pre-pandemic levels.
The move to expand the digital payment system to international travelers could boost international visitor spending in the country. It eliminates the need for travelers to pay a forex markup on every transaction through cards.
UPI One World wallet also overcomes the issue of limited amount of available currency with the travelers while protecting them from purchasing INR from unlicensed currency exchange outlets in the markets.
Visit Maldives to Hold 3-City Roadshow in India
Visit Maldives is holding a three-city roadshow called âWelcome Indiaâ starting Tuesday. As part of the campaign, the organization will hold roadshows at Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore.
The roadshow comes after Indian tourists to Maldives declined by about 40% between January and April 15 this year. #BoycottMaldives had started trending in Indian social media following a diplomatic dispute between the two countries in early January, leading to the decline in the tourist footfall to the archipelago.
Maldives has not yet recovered from this. According to data from the Maldivesâ ministry of tourism, till July 23 this year, about 69,500 Indians have visited the country, down from about 119,900 Indians visitors in the same period last year. This marks a decline of 42%.
India has gone from Maldivesâ second-largest source market to the sixth position, and its visitor share has reduced from 11.6% to 6.1%.
TBO Appoints Gerardo Del RÃo as President for International Business
Travel distribution company TBO.com has appointed Gerardo Del RÃo as the president of its international business. In a statement, the company said that RÃo has been tasked with driving the global expansion of TBO.
TBO launched its IPO in May, followed by a strong stock market debut. In its IPO prospectus, TBO had stated that it would use the funding towards strategic acquisitions, including those that would help expand its geographic presence.
Co-founder and joint managing director Gaurav Bhatnagar had earlier told Skift that it was planning to expand geographically and deepen its presence in existing markets, like it has done in Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The company also operates in the Middle East, focusing on four key countries: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar.
IndiGo Announces Digital Upgrades to Website, App
Low-cost airline IndiGo has announced significant digital upgrades to its website and mobile application, my colleague Peden Doma Bhutia has reported. Through this initiative, the airline is also looking to introduce in-flight entertainment accessible to travelers through the IndiGo app.
The move is aimed to enhance the offerings of IndiGo, and it comes soon after it announced its plans to introduce a business class configuration to its cabin classes.
The decision to offer on-app entertainment, as CEO Pieter Elbers called it, also follows IndiGoâs first-ever order of widebody aircraft in April, in a decision that hinted at possible long-haul international flights by the budget carrier.
The app-based in-flight entertainment model is currently being tested on the Delhi-Goa sector, Elbers said.
International Flight Searches to India Increase 40% in 2024
Flight search and booking platform Wego has revealed that international flight searches to India in the first half of 2024 has increased by 40.71% as compared to the same period last year. This has outpaced the search numbers recorded by Wego in the January-June period in 2019.
The interest in travel to India is being driven by Gulf countries, with Saudi Arabia taking the lead. It accounted for 42% of all international searches to India.
Apart from that, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, and Oman make up the top five source markets for India on the platform. Travelers from Bahrain, the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Thailand have also shown interest in traveling to India.
Vistara to Offer Complimentary Wi-Fi on International Flights
Full-service carrier Vistara has announced that it will offer 20 minutes of complimentary Wi-Fi on its international flights. With this, it has become the first Indian airline to offer this service.
Vistara will provide the service on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and Airbus A321neo aircraft across all cabin classes.
The airline has also developed Wi-Fi plans that passengers can purchase pre-flight or on-board to extend their connectivity using any international credit or Indian credit or debit card.
Azerbaijan Increases Outreach Efforts in India
Azerbaijan Tourism Board is increasing its efforts to market the country as a destination in the Indian market. As part of this, it participated in a MICE and luxury travel event in Jaipur to position itself as a business events and luxury travel destination.
In 2023, over 117,000 Indian tourists visited Azerbaijan, holding a 5.6% visitor share. This number has been surpassed within the first half of 2024.
Till June this year, Azerbaijan has recorded nearly 119,000 Indian tourists, an increase of 250% over the same period last year.
