The news agency based its reporting on a new report released last week. Titled "Total Tourism India", the 280-page report is a comprehensive, independent and authoritative analysis on India's tourism sector released by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Visa International. The report reviews all aspects of India's inbound, outbound and domestic tourism flows, and outlines a seven-point action plan.

"With India being one of the fastest-growing markets in our region, the eyes of the travel industry are turning to this country of 1.1 billion residents and its rapidly expanding middle class," said PATA president and CEO Peter de Jong.

The report shows that international outbound trips by resident nationals peaked at about 8.3 million in 2006. Close to 3 million arrivals were to Asia-Pacific destinations, making India the region's fourth-largest source market, behind China, Japan and South Korea.

This is expected to rise to more than 3.6 million this year and then increase by more than 10 per cent each year to 2009. The top five destinations by percentage growth to 2009 will be Macau, Papua New Guinea, China, Cambodia and Malaysia. For volume growth over the same period, the top five will be Singapore, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the United States.

De Jong urges PATA members and inbound tour operators to take a closer look at the myriad opportunities presented by India's burgeoning outbound tourism market.

"As international travellers, Indians tend to take longer trips and often in large family groups, have a high repeat visitation to preferred destinations and an excellent yield," he said.

"Indians are among the highest spenders in key destinations around the region such as Singapore and Hong Kong," he added.

"And every year, millions more Indians move into an income bracket where they can afford to travel overseas. In very many ways, India is a market of incredible opportunity."

Business travel dominates outbound travel and is expected to continue with strong growth, stimulated by India's buoyant economy. Leisure travellers are still significant in volume though they are increasingly more sophisticated and demanding. Findings from leading surveys show that Bombay is the leading source of India's outbound travellers with a market share of around 33 per cent, followed by New Delhi at 26 per cent.

 "India is a significant pillar to global tourism, both as an inbound destination and a rich source of visitors to many global destinations," said James Murray, executive vice president, South and Southeast Asia, Visa International Asia Pacific, as reported by eTurboNews.

"International visitors to India spent US$1.4 billion [Bt49.7 billion] in India between July 2005 and June 2006 on their Visa cards, with cardholders from the European Union emerging as the biggest spenders.

"This report paints one of the more complete pictures of India as a tourism industry player, and recognises its current impact, potential and path for expansion," he added. "Tourist spending globally averages about $2 billion a day. Nearly $4 million of that is by international Visa cardholders contributing to India's tourism economy."