The growing appetite for international travel beyond India’s traditional metropolitan markets took centre stage as TravelBullz’s three-city Great India Roadshow 2026, held in association with the Tourism Authority of Thailand under the Amazing Thailand banner, concluded in New Delhi on August 14.
Beginning in Lucknow on August 10, moving to Chandigarh on August 12 and culminating in the national capital two days later, the B2B networking roadshow brought together Thai hospitality and tourism suppliers with Indian travel trade partners. The Delhi finale drew more than 250 attendees, underlining the scale of interest in Thailand among travel agents and outbound specialists in North India.
At its heart, the roadshow was about a market that is rapidly changing: Indian travellers from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are becoming increasingly important players in the international tourism economy.
Taking the Thailand Conversation Beyond the Metros
For years, India’s outbound travel market has been heavily associated with large metropolitan centres. But the expansion of air connectivity, rising disposable incomes, greater digital exposure and a growing appetite for experiential travel are broadening the geography of international tourism.
TravelBullz’s Great India Roadshow sought to tap directly into that shift.
By taking its B2B engagement to Lucknow and Chandigarh before concluding in Delhi, the initiative created opportunities for Thai tourism suppliers to interact with travel professionals outside the conventional Mumbai-Delhi-Bengaluru outbound circuit.
The strategy was particularly relevant for Thailand, a destination that has long enjoyed strong brand recognition among Indian travellers but is now looking to deepen engagement with new customer segments and emerging source markets.
The roadshow brought approximately 25 leading hotel, leisure and travel trade partners from Thailand face-to-face with Indian agents. Rather than focusing solely on broad destination promotion, the discussions centred on developing commercially viable products tailored to the needs of the Indian market.
That included conversations around destination weddings, MICE travel and millennial-led leisure tourism—three segments with significant potential for Thailand.
From Destination Promotion to Product Partnerships
The format of the roadshow reflected an increasingly sophisticated outbound travel environment.
Indian travellers are no longer necessarily looking for standardised holiday packages. For high-value segments in particular, travel agents are seeking flexibility, differentiated experiences and products that can be customised according to the interests and budgets of their clients.
The presence of Thai hotels, leisure operators and other tourism partners allowed Indian agents to explore those possibilities directly.
For the wedding segment, Thailand offers an established international destination-wedding proposition, combining resorts, beaches, hospitality infrastructure and relatively easy access from India. For the corporate market, its hotels, convention facilities and varied leisure experiences make it a natural candidate for incentive and MICE programmes.
Meanwhile, younger Indian travellers are increasingly looking beyond traditional sightseeing holidays, creating opportunities for itineraries built around food, nightlife, wellness, adventure, culture and distinctive local experiences.
The roadshow’s emphasis on tailored, higher-margin itineraries therefore points to a wider change in the business of outbound travel: the travel agent is increasingly becoming a product curator rather than simply a booking intermediary.
The Tier 2 and Tier 3 Opportunity
One of the strongest messages to emerge from the roadshow was the importance of India’s emerging outbound markets.
Lucknow, Chandigarh and the broader North Indian catchment represent a substantial pool of travellers whose international ambitions are expanding. As awareness of overseas destinations increases, demand is moving beyond conventional family holidays towards celebrations, group travel, corporate incentives and experience-led vacations.
For destination marketers and suppliers, these markets can offer an important next phase of growth.
The challenge, however, is not simply to create awareness. Travel trade professionals in these cities need access to the right inventory, competitive pricing, dependable ground services and products that can be confidently sold to their customers.
This is where B2B roadshows retain their relevance. Face-to-face interaction allows destination suppliers to understand the specific requirements of agents while giving agents direct access to the people responsible for hotels, experiences and destination services.
In that sense, the Great India Roadshow functioned as both a marketing platform and a marketplace for ideas.
A Stronger Outbound Business Proposition
TravelBullz founder KD Singh highlighted the scale of the company’s expansion, noting a 400 per cent growth in its global hotel business over the past three years.
The figure provides a broader context for the roadshow. TravelBullz’s focus is not simply on generating destination awareness but on building a stronger ecosystem connecting international suppliers with India’s expanding outbound travel trade.
Thailand is particularly well placed within that ecosystem.
Its proximity to India, established tourism infrastructure and wide range of accommodation and leisure products give travel professionals considerable room to build different kinds of itineraries. The destination can be positioned for luxury travellers, families, honeymooners, wedding groups, corporate travellers and younger leisure audiences alike.
The opportunity now lies in moving from one-size-fits-all destination selling towards more targeted propositions for individual traveller segments and source markets.
Weddings, MICE and Millennials
The three segments discussed extensively during the roadshow illustrate Thailand’s breadth as an Indian outbound destination.
Destination weddings remain one of the most lucrative opportunities. Indian wedding celebrations are becoming increasingly international, with families looking for destinations capable of accommodating large groups while providing memorable venues and experiences. Thailand’s resort infrastructure and diverse locations make it an attractive option for such celebrations.
MICE travel represents another significant avenue. Corporate groups increasingly expect incentive programmes to combine meetings with leisure, entertainment and authentic destination experiences. Thailand’s combination of business facilities and tourism infrastructure can support that demand.
Then there is the millennial and younger leisure traveller. This audience is often less interested in conventional package tourism and more inclined towards curated experiences. From island escapes and wellness retreats to culinary exploration, nightlife and adventure, Thailand can offer a broad portfolio from which agents can construct highly personalised holidays.
For Indian travel sellers, the ability to combine these experiences into distinctive itineraries can also create greater value than simply selling accommodation and flights.
Building Relationships at Ground Level
The significance of the Great India Roadshow lies as much in its format as in its destination focus.
Digital platforms have transformed how travel products are discovered and booked, but B2B relationships remain central to complex international travel. Weddings, MICE groups and premium holidays often involve multiple suppliers and require coordination, negotiation and local knowledge.
Bringing approximately 25 Thai hospitality and leisure partners into direct contact with Indian agents therefore created an opportunity for both sides to understand the market more closely.
For Thai suppliers, the meetings offered insight into what North Indian travellers are seeking. For Indian agents, they provided access to a broader range of products and the possibility of negotiating more customised solutions for their customers.
That two-way exchange could ultimately be more valuable than conventional destination advertising.
Delhi Finale Signals Strong Market Interest
The final stop in New Delhi brought the three-city programme to a close with more than 250 attendees, making it the largest gathering of the roadshow.
The strong turnout reflected the continuing importance of Delhi as a major outbound travel hub, while also reinforcing the value of taking destination-led B2B engagement into surrounding Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets.
Taken together, the three stops presented a snapshot of an outbound industry in transition—one in which international travel is becoming more geographically dispersed across India and increasingly segmented by traveller profile.
For Thailand, the message is clear: the next generation of Indian visitors will not come only from the country’s biggest cities or travel only for traditional holidays.
They will come from emerging urban centres, travel in groups for weddings and corporate events, seek increasingly personalised leisure experiences and expect travel professionals to design products around their individual interests.
Looking Ahead
The Great India Roadshow 2026 ultimately highlighted a simple but consequential shift in the India–Thailand travel relationship.
The opportunity is no longer merely to persuade Indians to visit Thailand. It is to give travel sellers the tools, relationships and products to sell the right Thailand experience to the right Indian traveller.
By combining the destination reach of the Tourism Authority of Thailand with TravelBullz’s B2B network, the three-city roadshow created a platform for that conversation at a time when India’s international travel market is expanding rapidly.
As North India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities become increasingly influential in outbound tourism, such trade-led initiatives could play a significant role in determining where the next wave of Indian international travellers goes—and how they experience the world beyond India’s borders.
