National Digital Tourism Stack has been launched by the Ministry of Tourism in partnership with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), with the aim of bringing more tourism services and experiences onto shared digital infrastructure.
The initiative is designed to make tourism offerings easier to discover, access and book, while also creating more opportunities for local tourism businesses and communities.
National Digital Tourism Stack Targets 23,000 Listings
The National Digital Tourism Stack is expected to bring 23,000 tourism experiences and homestays onto the digital network by the end of 2028.
The target includes 14,000 tourism experiences and 9,000 homestays.
The services are expected to cover areas such as accommodation, transport, meals and local experiences.
States and Union Territories will work with the Tourism Ministry to curate and validate tourism offerings.
The government has said the platform will also focus on tourism experiences that are currently unavailable online or have only limited digital availability.
This could help smaller tourism businesses and lesser-known destinations gain greater online visibility.
Flights, Hotels and Local Experiences
The project aims to reduce the need for travellers to use separate websites for different parts of a trip
Flights, hotels, cabs, boat rides and local experiences are among the services that can be connected through the digital infrastructure.
The broader vision is to make trip planning easier and more accessible, including for travellers looking for local cuisine, art, traditions and community-based experiences.
The initiative will initially focus on hill and mountain destinations, coastal and waterfront destinations, heritage and cultural towns, and regional pilgrimage destinations.
Bookable itineraries and packages are also planned as part of the development.
National Digital Tourism Stack and Local Businesses
The digital tourism initiative is also intended to create opportunities for artisans, self-help groups, guides and other local stakeholders.
The government plans to use visitor data and feedback to support destination management and monitor tourist footfall against assessed carrying capacity.
Alongside the launch, the Ministry of Tourism exchanged five MoUs with Airbnb India, FlixBus India, Glance Digital Experience, Eicher Group Foundation and MakeMyTrip India.
The partnerships cover areas including homestay development, host training, destination promotion, digital tourism content and community-led tourism.
What the New Tourism Platform Means for Travellers
India already has digital tourism services through initiatives such as the revamped Incredible India Digital Platform.
That platform provides tourism information and virtual experiences and connects travellers with online travel agents and other stakeholders for bookings such as flights, hotels, cabs and buses.
The new National Digital Tourism Stack is intended to build a wider shared digital infrastructure for the tourism ecosystem.
Its development is expected to continue as tourism services, destinations and local experiences are brought onto the network.
The government has positioned the initiative as part of a broader effort to make tourism more digitally accessible while spreading tourism-related opportunities beyond the country’s most popular destinations.
