The rise of the Indian travel vloggers: How wealthy ‘influencers’ exploring far-flung destinations from Antarctica to the Amazon are fuelling boom in tourism – with nearly 70m Indians set to go abroad by 2030

The newly affluent Indians are now said to be the world’s fastest growing market in global tourism, as they explore far-flung destinations from Antarctica to the Amazon.

India became Asia’s largest source of international travelers for the first time in 2022, with tourist numbers exceeding those of China, South Korea and Japan.

About 27 million Indians now go abroad, which is expected to more than double to nearly 70 million by 2030, according to the Bollywood star. Deepti Bhatnagar.

Bhatnagar, who has become one of India’s most popular travel experts, said tourists are particularly attracted to locations like Machu Picchu in Peru and Hallstatt in Austria, which are said to have been the inspiration for Arendelle in the Disney film Frozen.

She added that more Indians now have the money to travel abroad and spoke of a ‘check-mark culture’ among the younger generation, where they are eager to take the perfect selfie or video to show to their friends and followers on Instagram .

Tourism to India is also increasing, especially for religious trips – and airlines in the country ordered more than 1,000 new planes last year to meet the extra demand.

Bollywood actress Deepti Bhatnagar has encouraged Indians to visit Hallstatt in Austria

Hallstatt is a lakeside village in Upper Austria that is often praised for its incredible views

The subject was explored in the new BBC Radio 4 podcast The Tourist Trapin which travel reporter Rajan Datar looks at the ‘relentless rise of global tourism’.

Attending the Luxury Tribe tourism fair in New Delhi, he said it was clear that “millions of Indians now have the money and desire to travel the world.”

Bhatnagar, 56, who launched India’s first travel TV show more than two decades ago, told Datar she had seen a “tremendous change from then to now.”

She added, “So many Indians are going to Antarctica now. They want to travel to Amazon, they want to travel to Machu Pichu.

‘When I started writing a travelogue in 2000, it was a dream for people to travel. But nowadays they travel everywhere and want to get to know new places.’

Bhatnagar also spoke about the rise of the ‘luxury traveler where they don’t think about budget’.

The Amazon is now also popular with Indians, with this travelogue from ‘The Punjabi Wanderer’

The Peruvian port city of Iquitos is the gateway to tribal villages in the northern Amazon

She said there were now “a lot of weddings happening all over the world”, with some travelers requesting 300 black Mercedes S-class cars for travel.

Speaking about a 50th birthday party in Austria, Bhatnagar added, “They took over the entire main street, and then Schonbrunn Palace, even the train stations, because the entire train tracks were converted into ‘happy 50th birthday’.”

India became the largest source of international travelers in Asia for the first time in 2022, according to tourism consultancy IPK International.

International tourists from India – the world’s most populous country – surpassed those from China, South Korea and Japan that year, the company said.

India is now expected to be the world’s fourth largest travel spender by 2030, with travel and tourism expected to become a £322 billion market – an increase of around 170 percent from £118 billion in 2019, according to Booking.com.

A YouTube travelogue by Yatri Doctor shows how Indians are now also visiting Antarctica

Tourists visit Antarctica in a Zodiac vessel, which allows them to go ashore and explore bays

Speaking about what is driving the boom, Bhatnagar said, “More Indians have the financial means to travel abroad. More and more of these Instagram, digital sites, are showing these beautiful images. So I think social media plays a very strong role.

‘They want to go to a certain place to take the selfie. They think it is one of the most photographed places and that is where they have to be.

“There’s a tick – they have to tick this box, I’ve been to Rio, I’ve been to this place in Hallstatt. I think that’s usually how the younger generation travels.”

Hallstatt is a lakeside village in Upper Austria that is often praised for its incredible views.

But thanks to its ties to Frozen, tourism has boomed in recent years and has become extremely popular among Instagrammers.

Bhatnagar said: ‘I think Hallstatt is such a beautiful place and it was breathtakingly beautiful, surrounded by mountains, a beautiful lake, you can go for a walk, you can take a boat trip, and when I was there I really experienced peace. I have advised so many people to go to Hallstatt.’

Machu Picchu, the site of the ancient Inca ruins in Peru, is also becoming popular with Indians

The largest commercial aircraft order in history was placed by Indigo in June last year for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035.

One of the destinations gaining immense popularity among Indians is the US, where the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House last June to meet President Joe Biden, which was seen as a turning point for bilateral ties.

And the US is trying to capture this new tourism boom by opening two new consulates in the Indian cities of Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

Through the first five months of 2023, travel from India to the US exceeded pre-pandemic volumes – at a time when other Asian countries were lagging behind, especially China, where tourists have been slow to return to the US after the pandemic.

Due to the surge in tourism, both within and outside India, the country’s airlines have placed orders for more than 1,100 aircraft in the last eight months of 2023.

This included the largest commercial aircraft order in Indigo’s history in June last year for 500 Airbus A320 aircraft, to be delivered between 2030 and 2035.

This surpassed a deal by Air India to buy 470 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing that same month.

Tourists are also flocking to India to visit the new Ram Mandir temple, which opened in January

One of the destinations that is becoming extremely popular among Indians is the US, where the country’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the White House last June to meet President Joe Biden.

India’s domestic tourism sector is also booming, with an expected 50 to 100 million additional tourists a year after the opening of the new Ram Mandir temple in Ayodhya in January.

And many younger Indians are also traveling to other countries for education: 770,000 Indian students will study abroad in 2022 – a number that is growing by about 10 percent every year.

Of this total, almost 140,000 went to Great Britain. The Office for National Statistics has said that almost a quarter of all visas were issued to Indian nationals in 2022 – the highest of any nationality – of which 55 per cent were for students.

BBC Radio 4 podcast The Tourist Trap is available on BBC Sounds