Economy
India Opens Tourism Stack, Redirects Demand Beyond Popular Destinations
India launched a digital tourism stack and a mission to promote lesser-known destinations while creating local opportunities.
What happened
The Tourism Ministry launched the National Digital Tourism Stack and the National Mission for Alternative Destinations, ‘Dekho Apna Desh Abhiyan 2.0’, at World Tourism Day 2026 in New Delhi. Developed with ONDC and ICDIA support, the stack will offer verified suppliers, search, payments, ratings and grievance redressal across participating platforms. Its pilot is planned for January 2027. The alternative-destinations mission will identify travel-ready hill, coastal, heritage and pilgrimage locations with states and union territories. Five non-commercial, non-binding, non-exclusive MoUs were exchanged with Airbnb, FlixBus India, Glance, Eicher Group Foundation and MakeMyTrip.
Why it matters
The initiatives aim to distribute tourism demand beyond heavily visited destinations and create opportunities for artisans, self-help groups, guides, entrepreneurs, women and young people. The digital stack could make tourism services easier to discover and access.
Source: Press Information Bureau (India)