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The Collection Wed, 30 Apr 25 |
Multiple stories, multiple perspectives, one theme worth your time—every week. |
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Have you heard of Almaty?
Despite gobbling up the names of countries in my early childhood—and more importantly, their capital cities—I simply couldn’t locate the place when I came across its name. But I guess I should give young-me a pass because Almaty was only the capital of Kazakhstan until 1997.
The reason I came across the city actually had to do with a far more recent distinction.
According to a report released by online travel platform Makemytrip last year, Almaty was the top “emerging” destination for Indians based on search data from June 2023 to May 2024.
How come?
Well, part of the reason was that in 2022, Kazakhstan allowed Indian nationals 14-day visa-free travel. Considering the increasing number of Indians who’ve been travelling abroad as tourists—over 10 million in the first half of 2024 alone—this is a no-brainer for countries looking to crack open new tourism markets. In fact, there are currently over 60 countries or islands that offer some form of visa leniency to Indian travellers, be it visa-free travel, visa-on-arrival, e-visas, or other such relaxations.
That’s good. But it’s also only half the story.
Travelling to a lot of the most popular destinations—like the US, UK, and many countries in the European Union—has become increasingly harder over the past couple of years.
And if you think staying inside India’s borders will keep your travel hassle-free, you should probably think again.
In this week’s edition of The Collection, keeping in mind that summer is one of our most popular vacation seasons, we dive into our rich portfolio of stories to explore all the hoops Indians have to jump through just to have a nice vacation.
If the destination you yearn for lies beyond Indian shores (and isn’t one of those welcoming places like Kazakhstan), getting a visa is the most important order of business.
But in many of the most popular jurisdictions like the US, UK, and the Schengen Visa region in Europe, a record surge in visa applications is leading to a sharp rise in rejections too.
Faced with worsening odds and high demand, Indian travel agents are looking for and finding ways to beat the system.
In this August 2024 story, my colleague Nuha Bubere reported in detail how Indian travel agents are gaming the visa process, with some charging clients up to Rs 50,000 extra just to secure a US visa appointment.
Visa slots for sale: how Indian travel agents game VFS, consulates
Using the visa-service-provider-consulate partnership, they turn the ‘unavailable’ slots for US and Schengen visas accessible
Adding to the demand for conventional tourism is a new wave of Indians travelling abroad in search of great live-event experiences.
Be it for Coldplay and Diljit concerts or live sporting events, more and more affluent Indians—disenchanted by how broken the event experience is in India—are choosing to seek the same overseas. Why is this so? Where does India fall short in putting together a good (live) show? We explored these questions in an edition of The Nutgraf, and subsequently, in an episode of the Two by Two podcast.
Going out of India is easier than going out in India
What happens when India’s elites escape India for experiences abroad?
Of course, if you do manage to shoulder away the competition, snag a visa, and actually cross the border, the government will want to cut into your fun.
In 2023, having noticed the over $1 billion that Indians spent on overseas travel in the previous year, the Indian government chose to deal with it the way it knows best.
Taxes.
The government wants a piece of your foreign holidays
Growing overseas spending under the LRS scheme has attracted the eyes of government and regulator both
If flying abroad seems like too much of a hassle after all that, the domestic tourism scene isn’t all that great either.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve already heard enough about how difficult things have become for train passengers in India. But flying is fast becoming an ordeal too, as two of our most popular stories this year—on the deteriorating services of India’s largest passenger airline and the government’s fanciful regional airline connectivity scheme—show all too well.
Indigo’s market value is soaring. So is its passengers’ fury
The once-beloved airline is now slammed for falling standards. But, oddly, business has never been better
73 airports, 619 routes, zero certainty: India’s plan is flights of fancy
The Indian government spent over Rs 4,500 crore on the first phase of UDAN and earmarked another Rs 1,000 for the second. The scheme is still struggling to take off
You can check out this week’s full collection below.
Oh, and if you did recently leave town for a vacation, or are planning to in the next few weeks, do write to [email protected] and tell me what your experience was like.
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Rahul leads the promotion and distribution efforts for the journalism produced by The Ken. He works at the intersection of the publication's editorial and business operations.
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