While just a couple of years ago the big news was an influx of tourists and businesses visiting India, market observers may have overlooked the fact that akin to the rising numbers of Chinese tourist travelling overseas, greater numbers of Indian travellers also heading abroad to holiday. Such is the size of India’s population that as tourists overseas they have the potential to positively impact the fortunes of a host of global tourist destinations.
The fairly sudden emergence of an Indian travel market has been prompted by a very buoyant economy which is now emerging as one of the economic powerhouses of the future and a property investment hotspot. Western firms are literally fighting amongst themselves to gain direct exposure to the Indian economy and we have also seen a number of takeovers and joint venture agreements involving Indian and Western groups. This increased activity in the economy has resulted in a substantially higher standard of living for many Indian (but not all) and given them more disposable income to use for alternative activities.
While there are a number of travel destinations around the world proving popular with Indian travellers, it is Singapore which has risen to the top of the list. We then have the likes of Dubai, Australia and Malaysia further down the list in contention. A direct result of this increased interest in travelling overseas will eventually translate to a percentage of Indians looking to invest in overseas property markets with countries such as Australia already gearing themselves up for an expected increase in interest.
