Modi Just Told India’s Middle Class to Stay Home: Who’s at Risk and the Winners in Domestic Travel

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday asked Indians to pause foreign travel and destination weddings, a patriotic appeal to protect currency outflows in a turbulent global economy.

Here’s what he said: “The culture of weddings abroad, foreign vacations is growing among the middle class. We have to decide that when there is a period of crisis and our patriotism is calling us, we should postpone plans to go abroad for at least a year. There are many places in India, we can visit there… We have to save foreign exchange,” Modi said as one of his suggestions. 

Keeping the middle class home will be tough, but some destinations that have benefited from Indian travel could face new pressure. India is now one of the fastest-growing outbound travel markets in the world, and March data from the Skift India Travel Intelligence Briefing show just how far India has pulled ahead.

In 2025, Vietnam saw Indian arrivals surge nearly 49% year-on-year. Thailand