New Delhi: With uncertainty mounting around the US-Israel-Iran conflict, and expected stock market volatility, India's primary travel community from Gujarat is keeping it low key for now.
Gujarati travellers, who form a considerable chunk of India's outbound and domestic traffic, seem to have cut back on travel, with agents and travel companies seeing a 60-70% drop in advance bookings for the summer season for destinations like Europe compared to the same time last year.
Also Read: Middle East tourism to bounce back after ceasefire, but rates may lag
The summer season usually sees a surge of Gujarati group travellers flocking to destinations in Europe besides other key domestic and short haul markets. Travel companies and operators said the ongoing conflict and ensuing uncertainty in the stock market seem to have made Gujarati travellers cautious.
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Karan Vakharia, chief operating officer at Ahmedabad based Pathfinders Holidays, that specialises in luxury travel, said forward bookings for destinations like Europe are down by about 60-70% compared to the same time last year.
"The Gujarati travellers depend on the Middle East carriers for outbound travel and these flights got impacted following the war. Even the markets started to fall, and people's funds got blocked," said Vakharia. "We have been advising clients to move to other destinations such as Bhutan, Singapore, Thailand and Mauritius. Travellers are considering other destinations, but it's not the same as every summer. Our overall business is down by about 35-40%," he added.
Alka Group MD Rishit Bhandari operates four hotels in Udaipur and is heavily dependent on the Gujarat market. He cited the stock market performance of March for the dip in Gujarati tourists. The Nifty is said to have experienced its worst month in six years in March 2026, dropping 11.4%, while the Sensex fell by over 11%. The month also witnessed a record $12 billion sell-off by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
"We cater to families of travellers whose primary business is stock trading and they are being cautious with disposable incomes," said Bhandari.
"Bookings are lower than last year and the economic impact of the war seems to be playing on the minds of travellers. Domestic bookings should have gone up but that's not the case for now," he added.
Gujaratis also seem to be cutting back on big fat weddings and milestone celebrations.
Mihir Ranpara, co-founder and director of event management company GoBananas said with big ticket events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi getting cancelled, the scale of events is also coming down drastically.
Also Read: Middle East crisis could drive travellers to India
"We know of a wedding scheduled for Abu Dhabi that is now happening in Rishikesh, with the budget scaled down by about five times. There is so much of uncertainty. The stock performance has been down. Gold prices have been volatile, and capital seems to be stuck everywhere," said Ranpara.
"Gujaratis are primarily from the trading community and trading has been slow. Friends stuck in share markets are talking of reduced budgets on weddings. The major impact will be visible in the upcoming wedding season this year," he added. Siddharth Shah, head of strategy at Flamingo Transworld said he is estimating a 25-30% drop in advance bookings although last minute bookings are also picking up. "We expect a faster than expected recovery as we are getting last minute bookings. February and March are usually the peak periods for bookings for Europe for April, May and June. Destinations like Bhutan, China, Japan and Australia are also finding favour with travellers," he added.
Last year's Pahalgam terror attacks had also considerably impacted group travel from Gujarat to markets like Kashmir, said Arun Kundu, chief business officer, rail journeys and MICE at Ebix Travels. "Countries in Europe are being advised on consuming fuel judiciously, so all these developments will impact package prices and costs," said Kundu. "If Gujaratis pay Rs 1, they want value that's equivalent to Rs 2.50. They want to cover everything extensively, and now everything will cost a lot more," he added.
SOTC Travel said it continues to see travel interest from Gujarati travellers, with a clear preference for Eastbound and Far East destinations such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, along with Australia and New Zealand, said SD Nandakumar, president and country head for holidays and corporate tours at the company.
Historically speaking, Gujaratis constitute the largest outbound travellers from India, said Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of industry body FAITH.
"They are postponing their international travel plans. However, we think this is a temporary phase and should the war stop (which we all sincerely wish and pray for), they should again be travelling abroad," he added.
Kundu referred to them as a 'buoyant lot.' "They love to travel and you can't hold them up for too long. Somebody will discover some new destinations soon, and you will see them flocking there."
Gujarati travellers, who form a considerable chunk of India's outbound and domestic traffic, seem to have cut back on travel, with agents and travel companies seeing a 60-70% drop in advance bookings for the summer season for destinations like Europe compared to the same time last year.
Also Read: Middle East tourism to bounce back after ceasefire, but rates may lag
The summer season usually sees a surge of Gujarati group travellers flocking to destinations in Europe besides other key domestic and short haul markets. Travel companies and operators said the ongoing conflict and ensuing uncertainty in the stock market seem to have made Gujarati travellers cautious.
(Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)
Karan Vakharia, chief operating officer at Ahmedabad based Pathfinders Holidays, that specialises in luxury travel, said forward bookings for destinations like Europe are down by about 60-70% compared to the same time last year.
"The Gujarati travellers depend on the Middle East carriers for outbound travel and these flights got impacted following the war. Even the markets started to fall, and people's funds got blocked," said Vakharia. "We have been advising clients to move to other destinations such as Bhutan, Singapore, Thailand and Mauritius. Travellers are considering other destinations, but it's not the same as every summer. Our overall business is down by about 35-40%," he added.
Alka Group MD Rishit Bhandari operates four hotels in Udaipur and is heavily dependent on the Gujarat market. He cited the stock market performance of March for the dip in Gujarati tourists. The Nifty is said to have experienced its worst month in six years in March 2026, dropping 11.4%, while the Sensex fell by over 11%. The month also witnessed a record $12 billion sell-off by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs).
"We cater to families of travellers whose primary business is stock trading and they are being cautious with disposable incomes," said Bhandari.
"Bookings are lower than last year and the economic impact of the war seems to be playing on the minds of travellers. Domestic bookings should have gone up but that's not the case for now," he added.
Gujaratis also seem to be cutting back on big fat weddings and milestone celebrations.
Mihir Ranpara, co-founder and director of event management company GoBananas said with big ticket events in Dubai and Abu Dhabi getting cancelled, the scale of events is also coming down drastically.
Also Read: Middle East crisis could drive travellers to India
"We know of a wedding scheduled for Abu Dhabi that is now happening in Rishikesh, with the budget scaled down by about five times. There is so much of uncertainty. The stock performance has been down. Gold prices have been volatile, and capital seems to be stuck everywhere," said Ranpara.
"Gujaratis are primarily from the trading community and trading has been slow. Friends stuck in share markets are talking of reduced budgets on weddings. The major impact will be visible in the upcoming wedding season this year," he added. Siddharth Shah, head of strategy at Flamingo Transworld said he is estimating a 25-30% drop in advance bookings although last minute bookings are also picking up. "We expect a faster than expected recovery as we are getting last minute bookings. February and March are usually the peak periods for bookings for Europe for April, May and June. Destinations like Bhutan, China, Japan and Australia are also finding favour with travellers," he added.
Last year's Pahalgam terror attacks had also considerably impacted group travel from Gujarat to markets like Kashmir, said Arun Kundu, chief business officer, rail journeys and MICE at Ebix Travels. "Countries in Europe are being advised on consuming fuel judiciously, so all these developments will impact package prices and costs," said Kundu. "If Gujaratis pay Rs 1, they want value that's equivalent to Rs 2.50. They want to cover everything extensively, and now everything will cost a lot more," he added.
SOTC Travel said it continues to see travel interest from Gujarati travellers, with a clear preference for Eastbound and Far East destinations such as Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia, along with Australia and New Zealand, said SD Nandakumar, president and country head for holidays and corporate tours at the company.
Historically speaking, Gujaratis constitute the largest outbound travellers from India, said Rajiv Mehra, general secretary of industry body FAITH.
"They are postponing their international travel plans. However, we think this is a temporary phase and should the war stop (which we all sincerely wish and pray for), they should again be travelling abroad," he added.
Kundu referred to them as a 'buoyant lot.' "They love to travel and you can't hold them up for too long. Somebody will discover some new destinations soon, and you will see them flocking there."
