New Delhi, Sep 27 (PTI) The Centre on Sunday launched a project to build a national digital public infrastructure for the tourism sector, which will enable users to access a wide range of products and services on a shared digital space.
The Ministry of Tourism has joined hands with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to build the ‘National Digital Tourism Stack’, with a target to bring on board 23,000 tourism experiences and homestays and make them discoverable, trustable and bookable by the end of 2028, officials said.
Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Shekhawat launched the project at a function held at the Bharat Mandapam to mark World Tourism Day on Sunday.
The National Digital Tourism Stack, being developed in collaboration with the ONDC and with the support of the International Centre for DPI Innovation and Advancement (ICDIA), aims to make India’s tourism offerings more discoverable, accessible and trustworthy, the ministry said.
“This shared digital infrastructure will enable tourism providers to make their offerings available across the participating platforms, supported by capabilities such as verified identities and supplier credentials, search and discovery, payments, ratings and grievance redressal,” it said in a statement.
Envisaged as a collaborative effort involving the ministry, states, Union territories and the industry, the programme will be implemented in phases.
Tourism Secretary Bhuvnesh Kumar explained the salient points of the ambitious, first-of-its-kind initiative.
Artificial intelligence (AI) will be on the front end of the project, he said, adding that the vision behind the National Digital Tourism Stack is “One ticket, One pass” to bring all of India together in a single journey.
“Currently, flights, hotels, cabs, boat rides, or even an ‘aarti’ at a temple, etc., need to be booked through different websites. This fragmentation makes the process a digitally painful experience for a tourist planning to visit places,” Kumar said.
The digital stack is a step towards making them all available on a unified platform, he said.
“The project has been approved, and we will start onboarding services. The ministry would be the catalyst and lead for this project. We will work with states and UTs to curate and validate experiences,” the tourism secretary said.
A steering committee will be established, Kumar said, as he invited those associated with tourism to be a partner in the initiative.
According to a flyer shared with the audience, the onboarding target of 23,000 experiences includes 14,000 tourism experiences and 9,000 homestays.
The tourism secretary said the vision is also to onboard experiences that are either not available online or available only in a limited way.
The idea is that for a tourist travelling to big cities or a small town, the planning and the trip itself should be “easy, safe, and in one’s preferred language”, the note said.
The digital public infrastructure seeks to allow tourists to discover more of India, travel with confidence, book and pay easily, and reduce paperwork, it added.
According to the roadmap of the project, the preparation and development phase will be undertaken from October to December 2026, followed by a pilot phase from January to June 2027, during which the first batch of experiences and homestays will go live, Kumar said.
From July 2027 to December 2028, it will be scaled out, with a nationwide supply onboarding drive.
The ministry also released the India Tourism Statistics 2026 on the occasion.
Besides, the ‘Mission for Redistribution of Tourism Demand Promotion of Lesser-known Destinations’ and ‘Dekho Apna Desh 2.0’ were also launched.
Shekhawat said a tourist today looks for diverse experiences, and travellers plan their journeys using not just traditional tourism literature but also AI-based platforms.
He said a new curiosity among domestic tourists to explore India has lent new energy to the economy.
“Tourism is no longer just about visiting places; today’s travellers seek authentic experiences – local cuisine, local art, local traditions and meaningful connections that create memories, not merely photographs,” Shekhawat said.
The next phase of India’s tourism journey must ensure that growth reaches beyond the popular destinations, creating opportunities for local communities, entrepreneurs, women and youth while making tourism more balanced, inclusive and sustainable, he said.
The ministry also exchanged five MoUs on the occasion – with Airbnb, FlixBus, Glance Digital Experience (InMobi Group), Eicher Group Foundation, and MakeMyTrip (India) – to strengthen destination promotion, community participation and responsible tourism.
The partnerships cover homestay development and host skilling with Airbnb; destination promotion and responsible travel through intercity mobility with FlixBus; digital tourism content and responsible visitor messaging with Glance; community-led, heritage-based sustainable tourism in the Himalayan region with Eicher Group Foundation; and promotion of unexplored villages, authentic local shopping and ministry-identified travel initiatives with MakeMyTrip.
The collaborations under the five MoUs are non-commercial, non-financial, non-binding and non-exclusive, the ministry said. PTI KND ARI
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.