Indian tourists are an increasingly common sight in the upmarket malls of Dubai, Singapore and Bangkok where holidaymakers and business travellers flock to shop. In Europe, department stores like Selfridges have also seen a “notable” increase in the number of Indian visitors in recent years, particularly during Indian holidays and special occasions, says Archana Ramaswamy, director of the retailer’s London store.

“The uptick often aligns with major events such as cricket tournaments, wedding seasons and events that last up to five days, or when Bollywood celebrities visit London for filming — the latter having major influence on consumer trends,” explained Ramaswamy, adding that the store’s concierge, personal shopping and styling services are popular. Bespoke services are especially appealing to Selfridges’ Indian clientele, who make frequent requests for tailored, customised and personalised products.

The UK remains an attractive destination for affluent Indians, she says, thanks to a variety of factors including shoppers’ ease with the English language, longstanding cultural links with the country, family connections, second homes in cities like London and children studying in British schools. According to the UK’s national tourism agency Visit Britain, the country saw a 17 percent annual rise in the number of visitors from India to 604,000 in 2023. Indian visitors spent a total of £804 million ($1.0 billion) in the UK visitor economy during that year.

Ramaswamy notes a mixed age group of Indian tourists at Selfridges, many of whom exhibit a fashion-forward attitude with a growing interest in discreet luxury labels over logos. Most already know which brands they want to buy before arriving, she says.

“[We] have seen an increased inquiry for Valentino and Prada. Prada is not available in India [as a standalone fashion store] thus the high demand whilst Valentino has limited availability only in Delhi and Mumbai. There has also been an increase in demand for Loro Piana and high fashion Indian designer brands,” Ramaswamy said. Other brands with a limited presence in India are popular including Loewe, Maison Margiela and Celine.

Selfridges is not the only luxury retailer helping to draw Indian tourists to the UK or persuade them to extend their stay to shop; destinations like Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Bond Street’s mono-brand boutiques, and designer outlet Bicester Village are all on their map.

India’s Globetrotting Shoppers

With the number of overseas trips made by Indians expected to swell over the next decade, the cohort presents an attractive long-term growth opportunity for luxury players.

Indian tourists could make around 80-90 million international trips a year by 2040, compared to 13 million in 2022, according to consultancy McKinsey. Euromonitor, which estimates that outbound spending on shopping grew 26 percent in 2024 over the previous year to $8.9 billion, expects the figure to touch $14.6 billion by 2028. The market research firm cites drivers like India’s GDP growth, rising disposable incomes, better international airline connectivity, and more streamlined visa processes for some destinations.

“We are witnessing a strong demand for curated luxury shopping experiences that not only offer exclusive access to premium brands but also combine it with luxury travel elements like private transfers, gourmet dining and personalised itineraries,” said travel agency Thomas Cook’s Rajeev Kale, the firm’s India country head and president for holidays, MICE and visa, noting that the most sought-after destinations are Paris and Milan, followed by London, Dubai, New York, and Tokyo.

Thomas Cook noted a 20-25 percent annual increase in demand last year from Indian clients seeking travel packages that include premium shopping experiences, prompting the agency to incorporate designer outlets like MacArthur Glen and Bicester Collection into its itineraries.

While wealthy Indians have been travelling overseas to shop for luxury goods for decades, a new cohort exhibits differing tastes to the old guard. Many are hyper-aware of the latest international trends, limited edition products and niche brands, thanks to digital connectivity and an influx of luxury brands into India.

Valentino, Ralph Lauren, Balenciaga, Dior, Cartier and Chanel are just a few of the brands that have opened stores in the country. Most luxury department stores have so far kept their distance but this year Saks Global signed a franchising agreement with Reliance Retail to launch Saks Fifth Avenue in India. Meanwhile, France’s Galeries Lafayette is slated to open locations in New Delhi and Mumbai this year in partnership with Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.

The department store’s Paris flagship started accepting payments through India’s popular unified payments interface (UPI) last year. In a press note, Nicolas Houzé, CEO of Galeries Lafayette, said UPI is expected to facilitate seamless transactions for Indian visitors as numbers grow.

Countries like Switzerland, which saw an increase in Indian visitors post-pandemic, are making efforts to further boost arrivals. Switzerland Tourism is partnering with local travel agencies to promote tailor-made itineraries and collaborating with Indian celebrities and influencers for marketing campaigns that highlight Swiss offerings, said Christian Schoch, Switzerland Tourism’s India director. The board named Olympic gold medallist athlete Neeraj Chopra as an ambassador in 2022, six years after signing actor Ranveer Singh.

“Campaigns featuring Bollywood stars resonate strongly with Indian audiences…Short, visually engaging content focused on adventure, luxury, and family-friendly experiences is particularly effective,” he said.

Schoch says that luxury shopping is a priority for many Indian travellers in cities like Zurich, Geneva, and Lucerne, and notes there is growing demand from Indians for Swiss watches and interest in designer outlet malls such as Foxtown near Lugano.

Western Retailers Are Slow to Adapt

Despite Indians’ growing presence in well-known international shopping districts, luxury retailers have been slow to identify them as a priority.

“The overall feeling you get when you talk with Europeans and Americans is that so far it hasn’t become something which is really catching their attention the way Chinese [tourists] did a decade ago,” said Selvane Mohandas du Ménil, managing director of the International Association of Department Stores (IADS).

In general, Western brands and department stores continue to see Indians as a less important demographic than the Chinese, despite the recent contraction in Chinese luxury spending. It isn’t surprising since Indian travellers are vastly outnumbered by their Chinese counterparts, who are also much bigger spenders. In 2023, Chinese households made 101 million cross-border trips and spent $196.5 billion, according to UN Tourism.

Whilst Indians aren’t currently anywhere near that scale, they do represent a significant target market. Luxury spending by Indian consumers is expected to more than triple between 2022 and 2030, reaching €25 to €30 billion ($27 to $32 billion), according to Bain & Company.

Experts like du Ménil suggest that retailers are not doing enough to attract travelling Indian consumers at this important early stage of relationship building. More needs to be done to meet their specific needs and better anticipate their preferences and service expectations, he says.

“Any retailer that is seriously interested in India has to make sure that they not only understand the market [nuances but also avoid the mistakes made when serving previous waves of tourists from source markets],” du Ménil explains. “[For example, they must not] consider Indians part of the same homogenous group [like they did] for Chinese customers when they were coming with tour operators prior to the pandemic.”

The cultural diversity of Indian shoppers is also reflected in the travel destinations they choose. Those from the northern region of the country typically make up a large share of India’s outbound tourists to North America, while a majority of those from Kerala in the south prefer the Middle East, McKinsey notes.

“They come with their own culture, view of the world and set of values. That’s why it makes sense that [more Indian] tourists are going to Southeast Asia rather than the West,” said du Ménil. “The West should wake up a bit and make sure that it’s adapting to the realities of this new group of customers.”

From Southeast Asia to the Middle East

Geographical proximity coupled with relatively economical travel costs allowed Asia-Pacific to become the fastest growing region for outbound spend by Indian travellers in 2023, according to Abhay Prakash Singh, research analyst at Euromonitor. Tourism boards and shopping destinations in these countries are making extra efforts to reach out to them.

Thailand, for example, has made it easier for Indians to travel with a visa-free facility and welcomed over two million Indian tourists in 2024. At Gaysorn Village in Bangkok where brands such as Comme des Garçons and Carl F. Bucherer operate stores, Indians represent less than one percent of the overall customer base but their high average spend in luxury goods makes them an emerging and valuable consumer segment, says Thananyaraj Sirirajchatanuphap, head of luxury, designers and lifestyles at the mixed-use retail complex.

“Indian visitors allocate a large percentage of their spending on luxury watches, accounting for 53 percent of their total spend across categories. This is significantly higher compared to Thais who spend about 12 percent of their total in this category,” said Sirirajchatanuphap, adding that Gaysorn is keen to explore new marketing opportunities to attract more Indian visitors.

Singapore has seen a notable increase in Indian travellers seeking luxury shopping and other premium experiences in recent years, says Markus Tan, regional director for India, Middle East, South Asia and Africa at the Singapore Tourism Board. A survey by online travel portal MakeMyTrip found that Dubai and Singapore were the favourite destinations for Indians who are inclined to shop for luxury while travelling.

“These places are more like India,” said Neelesh Hundekari, partner in the consumer and retail practice at Kearney. “For Indians, they’re a little bit of novelty but not a lot of novelty. Indian food is also more easily available in these countries.”

In addition to cultural proximity these destinations offer more frictionless travel and shopping experiences. Dubai has expanded its visa-on-arrival for Indian passport holders living in six additional countries; Singapore signed an MoU with online payments provider PhonePe to promote UPI payments for Indian visitors in the city-state.

One thing that puts Indian travellers at a disadvantage is a low rating for their passport. This year, the Indian passport, which grants visa free access to only 29 countries, was ranked 80th by global citizenship and residence advisory firm Henley & Partners. The ranking assesses countries’ passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

“There are smaller countries, less important from a strategic perspective, that have more perks than the Indian passport. If Indians want to go to the US, the UK or Europe, they have to wait a long time [for a visa] or pay expensive visa fees,” said du Ménil, adding that some affluent travellers understandably feel that the system doesn’t feel welcoming.

Local Designers, Celebrities and Holidays

Brands operating stores in transit and destination airports along these routes should take note of the projected surge in spending. Outbound spending on duty-free shopping by Indians is expected to grow by 62 percent to $1.7 billion in 2024, compared to 2019, reaching $2.7 billion by 2028, with particularly robust demand for beauty and personal accessory products, said Euromonitor’s Singh.

But unlike some other nationalities, Indians often want to style their overseas luxury buys with traditional clothing. “They are very keen to shop fashion brands that they can style and wardrobe with traditional [Indian] garments,” said Selfridges’ Ramaswamy. “Designer collaborations like Sabyasachi’s collections are highly sought after.”

In December, Indian designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee had an exclusive jewellery showcase at department store Printemps Doha in Qatar, shortly after he unveiled a limited-time shop at New York’s Bergdorf Goodman. Manish Malhotra showcased a collection at Harrods’ exclusive private shopping penthouse in London, a members-only club, last year. And Saks Fifth Avenue teamed up with Indian designers Rahul Mishra and Anamika Khanna as the exclusive retail partner for their ready-to-wear collections in the US.

Following the Indian retail calendar is also key. It’s not just brands like Jimmy Choo and Valentino that have dropped products with the Diwali season in mind. Cartier and Condé Nast Traveller hosted an annual celebration for the festival of lights at The Dorchester in London last year. While these activations were mainly intended to attract members of the Indian and wider South Asian diaspora living locally in those cities, they also presented an opportunity to attract high-net-worth-individuals from India visiting for business or pleasure.

To take full advantage of the Indian travel retail opportunity, market experts advise global luxury brands to consider engaging more Indian talent across the business. From strategy to the sales floor, local knowledge can help brands understand the cultural nuances that give them a better chance of translating those consumer insights into sales.