World Tourism Day 2026 focuses on “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” highlighting the growing role of technology and AI in shaping the future of travel. On the occasion, industry leaders share their views on the opportunities, shifts and priorities defining the next phase of tourism.
Nikhil Sharma, MD and COO, South Asia, Radisson Hotel Group
At Radisson Hotel Group, we are building AI at the centre so every hotel benefits without added complexity. From Gemini-powered content and translation engines that personalise ads across 30+ languages, to our ChatGPT discovery app covering more than 1,000 hotels, semantic search, digital twins, VR tours and the Meetings Dream Machine, the technology is designed once and delivered everywhere. The results are already visible, AI-driven traffic to RH.com has grown to over 3% of visits and continues to accelerate, backed by a content readiness audit of 10,700+ prompts and nearly 297,000 responses across eight AI platforms and 135+ locations. We are now advancing into agentic commerce so AI assistants can complete bookings directly while we retain the guest relationship and loyalty. On the ground, our WhatsApp automation is live in more than 20 hotels and has already handled over 15,000 enquiries, proving that the best AI quietly removes friction so our teams can deliver genuine hospitality.
Ravi Gosain, President, IATO
I wish everyone a very happy World Tourism Day. I truly believe tourism is a remarkably resilient sector—regardless of the challenges we face, we will survive and flourish in the future. However, traveller preferences are changing, which means we must evolve beyond how we operated in the past. By leveraging technology, upskilling ourselves, and preparing for future travellers, we will be ready for what lies ahead. Once again, happy World Tourism Day to all.
Gaurav Gupta, Co-founder, Saltstayz
World Tourism Day is a good moment to ask a simple question: how many of India’s actual destinations does most of our hospitality infrastructure really serve? For years, quality stays have clustered around a handful of metros, while some of the country’s richest travel experiences — spiritual, heritage, adventure and nature — have remained underserved. We believe the next phase of Indian hospitality has to go beyond the traditional hotel markets and move closer to the destinations and experiences travellers are actually seeking.
Whether it’s Rishikesh for the traveller chasing the Ganga and the rush of a river rapid, Ujjain and Indore for the spiritual and heritage circuit of Madhya Pradesh, or Gurgaon as a gateway to the lesser-known experiences spread across the Aravalis, we want our network to put a dependable stay closer to where the journey actually leads. Our hotels in Gurgaon, for instance, are not only designed for corporate and social travellers, but also for people looking to discover the trails, heritage sites, lakes, villages and other hidden gems that sit within and around the Aravalis, often just a short drive away.
We also think about the same traveller differently through the week. A corporate guest in Delhi or Indore on a Tuesday can just as easily be a weekend leisure traveller in Rishikesh or Ujjain by Saturday, and our properties are built to serve both occasions without compromise. As this year’s global theme reminds us, technology has a real role to play here too — from how a traveller discovers a destination to how seamlessly they can book and experience their stay.
For us, that isn’t a separate innovation story. It is the infrastructure that can support India’s next wave of tourism — connecting business and leisure, metros and lesser-known destinations, convenience and discovery, through one dependable network.
Amit Damani, Co-Founder, StayVista
World Tourism Day is a good moment to recognise how much the Indian traveller has changed. Travel today is less about ticking off destinations and more about time spent together, whether it is three generations under one roof or a group of friends reconnecting over a long weekend. Private homes have become the heart of that experience. At StayVista, we see guests choosing a villa in the hills of Igatpuri or a plantation estate in Coorg not as a place to sleep, but as the reason for the trip itself. That, to us, is the future of Indian hospitality.
Anirudh Lakhotia, Director, Ivory Destinations
This World Tourism Day, we’re reminded that Corbett doesn’t just draw travellers for a safari drive, it asks something more of us: to protect the wilderness we’re inviting people into. At The Golden Tusk, every experience we design, from our villas to the conversations we have with guests, carries that responsibility. We’ve seen firsthand how a well-informed traveller becomes a quiet advocate for the forest long after they’ve left, and that’s the real dividend of tourism done right. Every destination needs more people who leave caring about what they saw. Tourism here isn’t separate from conservation.
Sohail Mirchandani, Chief Operating Officer and Co Founder, EkoStay, on World Tourism Day 2026
World Tourism Day this year is about how digital tools and AI can redesign travel, and for us that is not a theme, it is how we run the business every single day. But the bigger story in India right now is a simple one. Indians are travelling within the country at a scale we have never seen, and the supply of good places to stay has not kept pace. As per NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Tourism’s June 2026 report on unlocking growth in tourism and hospitality, India recorded 2.9 billion domestic tourist visits in 2024, well past the pre pandemic peak of 2.3 billion, while a typical hotel project still takes 36 to 48 months to go from approval to opening. The same report puts branded hotel inventory at under 8 percent of the country’s total lodging rooms. That gap is where professionally managed homestays and villas come in.
A well run private home can be brought to market in months, not years, and it gives a family or a group the space, privacy and flexibility that a hotel room simply cannot. For us, technology is what makes that scale possible without losing the personal touch. Every check in, every meal, every maintenance call runs on a backend built so the guest never has to think about it. As India travels more, the brands that win will be the ones that treat reliability as the real luxury, and the homestay sector, with the policy support it is finally starting to get, is ready to carry a much bigger share of that demand.
Hari Ganapathy, CEO & Co-Founder, Pickyourtrail
Much of the conversation around AI in travel is focused on how it will change the product: better recommendations, smarter itineraries, more personalisation. I think its more fundamental impact will be on the economics of delivering all of that. AI will rewrite travel’s P&L before it rewrites the holiday.
Travel has historically been difficult to scale because expertise takes years to build and servicing a single holiday can involve dozens of human interventions over several months. AI changes both. It allows destination knowledge to compound within a business, while taking away much of the coordination and repetitive work behind every trip. In a thin-margin industry, that fundamentally changes what it costs to deliver high-touch service at scale.
But that doesn’t make the human less important. It changes where the human creates value. AI can compare, coordinate and increasingly execute, while the travel expert moves towards judgment, reassurance and accountability. That matters particularly in India, where an international holiday is often a honeymoon, a family’s first trip to Europe or something someone has saved years to experience. The traveller doesn’t just want an answer; they want someone to own that answer.
So when we talk about AI redesigning tourism, I think we should look beyond what changes on the traveller’s screen. The bigger transformation may be underneath it: a fundamentally different operating model that allows the industry to deliver more expertise and attention to more travellers, without losing the human accountability that makes travel work.
Samir MC, CEO, Tamara Leisure Experiences
India is entering a phase of tourism where depth of experience defines a journey’s worth. This tourism story is being rewritten by two distinct but converging currents, quiet luxury and spiritual travel. Our luxury travel market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10.8% by 2033, while faith-based travel is set to nearly triple to USD 46.8 billion by 2036. What ties them together is a shared appetite for meaning over spectacle. Today’s traveller, whether checking into a secluded retreat or walking a pilgrimage circuit, wants immersion, not itineraries. The luxury guest is choosing discretion over display, seeking stillness and a stronger sense of place rather than experiences built to be seen. Faith led journeys are seeing a similar shift, with travellers seeking curated, unhurried access to sacred spaces rather than crowded circuits.
This deepening pursuit of immersion needs infrastructure that can keep pace with it, and that is where technology is stepping in, differently for each stream. In quiet luxury, AI anticipates a guest’s preferences before arrival, from room ambience to dietary choices, making service feel intuitive rather than scripted. In spiritual travel, digital darshan booking and AI led queue management are turning long waits into calmer, more dignified pilgrimages. Across both, personalisation is the constant, with itinerary design and on ground service adapting to traveller intent in real time. At TLE, we see the real opportunity in understanding a guest so well that we can meet them again across any journey they take with us, whether it is luxury, business, religious or budget. This is enabled by smarter guest profiling and more intuitive hospitality, allowing us to make each experience more relevant to the guest. As India redefines premium travel, the brands that combine data, discretion and depth will lead its next decade.
Aman Naagar, MD, Avis India
The theme for World Tourism Day 2026, ‘Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism’, reflects a shift already reshaping ground transportation in India. Travellers now expect the road leg of their journey to match the reliability of their flight or hotel booking. Consider an international visitor touring the Golden Triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Their experience of India depends heavily on punctual transfers and chauffeurs who understand both the route and the guest. At Avis India, we are investing in digital booking and real-time fleet visibility to deliver that consistency across every city we serve. Technology strengthens our operations, while our trained chauffeurs and service teams remain central to the guest experience. As India builds its standing as a global destination, organised and dependable mobility will shape how visitors experience the country, and we are committed to contributing to that progress.
Abhishek Bhattacharya , Sales, WelcomHeritage Hotels
On World Tourism Day, we are reminded that every property in our portfolio carries a living story—from historic forts and havelis that anchored communities, to boutique retreats, nature lodges, and wildlife sanctuaries dedicated to preserving fragile ecosystems. At WelcomHeritage, our role across our collection of heritage, nature, and wildlife retreats goes beyond hospitality; it is one of active stewardship.
In a country as culturally and naturally rich as India, responsible tourism is the catalyst that breathes new life into historic structures, creates sustainable livelihoods, and protects vital natural habitats. Across all our properties, we remain committed to ensuring these spaces remain vibrant and cared for—delivering authentic experiences for today’s travelers while safeguarding India’s heritage and environment for generations to come.
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