This will mean a big growth in spending overseas. According to a recently released Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan tourism industry report, Indians travelling to Asia-Pacific alone spent $13.3 billion in 2011. This figure is set to zoom to $91 billion by 2030, making Indians the second-biggest spenders, after China, in the world on overseas travel as per an ET report.

Tourism Australia hopes to get 300,000 Indian tourists by 2020. South Africa Tourism Board too says India has become one of the key tourism generating nations for their country. Indian tourist arrivals to Thailand crossed the 1-million mark for the first time in 2012.

Thai Airways have recently started direct flights between Delhi and Phuket and Mumbai and Phuket to cater to the surging demand from Indians looking for wedding destinations and holidays.

The introduction of direct flights between India and Istanbul has led to a sharp rise in Indian tourists travelling to Istanbul. Spotting demand, Turkish Airlines today connects many Indian cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Hyderabad with Istanbul. 

Here are four important trends that are emerging in the world of outbound tourism from India:

Travel to Meet Family

In pre-liberalisation days, with little disposable income and fewer options, holidays for most middle-class Indians were about visiting friends and families in India. It is a trend that is playing out well overseas among globetrotting Indians.

According to the Amadeus-Frost & Sullivan report, a high 43% of leisure travellers from India say visiting friends and relatives (VFR) was the main reason behind their overseas travel.

Partly this has to do with the growing diaspora estimated by the government at 25 million but experts puts it at around 100 million. The VFR travellers behave differently than standard vacation travellers, as they travel for longer periods, and typically do not book hotels but stay with friends and relatives,

Extended Weekends Abroad

Weekend holidays in nearby hill stations are passe. Now with direct flights to a number of foreign tourist destinations, Indians would rather spend their extended weekends overseas. 

Short-haul direct international flights anything around five hours of flight time are seeing the biggest growth as Maldives, Thailand, Hong Kong, the UAE and Dubai are some of the important emerging destinations.

The fact that it is cheaper to travel and holiday in Thailand than in Kerala, and stay in better hotels, is a big incentive. Also noticeable is the fact that Indians are taking more frequent holidays. 

According to a data, while Indians would typically take an international holiday once in 18-24 months five years back, the frequency is now once in 12-18 months.