PRESS RELEASE
Jaipur, India — 19 March 2026: The seventh edition of Luxury Tribe India, India’s first and only luxury travel trade platform, concluded on 18 March 2026 after three days that delegates from 45 countries described as the most commercially significant and intellectually substantive gathering in the platform’s history.
The seventh edition brought together 75-plus international partner brands with India’s most influential travel designers, wedding planners and luxury travel buyers representing 22 Indian cities. The three days combined the platform’s curated one-to-one meeting format with the sixth edition of ILLUME by Luxury Tribe, the platform’s immersive knowledge forum.
“Luxury Tribe was built on a simple belief — that the right relationships can create extraordinary opportunities,” said Sheetal Rastogi, Founder of Luxury Tribe. “What happened in this room over these three days is exactly that. Meetings became more meaningful. Conversations became more honest. Partnerships began as relationships built with warmth, intent and long-term possibility. In this room today, we had extraordinary global partners representing 45 countries and buyers from 22 cities across India. When these two sides come together, something powerful happens. That is the true spirit of Luxury Tribe.”
The seventh edition unveiled India Luxury Traveller Benchmark Trend Intelligence Report: ‘Nine Personas Shaping Luxury Travel Behaviour in India’— a research study mapping the Indian affluent traveller across nine distinct persona profiles. The research, already being cited by trade partners globally, reframes how the world understands India’s luxury traveller and replaces a decade of industry shorthand with behavioural intelligence.
“Travel designers spend their professional lives explaining India to the world,” said Khushboo Rastogi, Co-Founder of Luxury Tribe and co-author of the India Luxury Traveller Benchmark 2026. “We have all had the same conversation, many times — a global hotel director or a DMC partner or a luxury brand saying they understand the Indian traveller. Big families, big spenders, vegetarian food. That is not understanding. That is a shortcut. This year we decided to do something about it. The Benchmark maps India’s luxury traveller across nine distinct persona profiles — five core, four specialist. Same passport, completely different people. The next time an international hospitality brand says they understand the Indian traveller, the trade can now ask — which one.”
The calibre of the room
Partner brands at the seventh edition included JOALI Maldives and JOALI BEING, Velaa Private Island, the Jumeirah Group, Virgin Limited Edition, Il Borro Relais & Châteaux, Castelfalfi, Palazzo Roma, Capri Tiberio Palace, Sicily Lifestyle, The Dolder Grand, The Alpina Gstaad, The Ritz-Carlton Vienna, Villa Cosy Saint-Tropez, the Barrière Collection, The Apurva Kempinski Bali, Ayana Bali, The Oberoi Beach Resorts, Lizard Island, Luxury Lodges of Australia, Queensland Tourism, Tourism Australia’s Signature Experiences, The Ritz-Carlton Masai Mara Safari Camp, Wilderness, Cheli and Peacock Safaris, Ol Jogi, North Island Seychelles, Octola Private Wilderness, Quark Expeditions, Ponant Explorations, S Journey Vietnam, The Sukhothai Bangkok, Dusit Thani Bangkok, Centara Reserve Samui, Kimpton Kitalay Samui, Peru Tourism and dozens more across 45 countries.
Voices from the room
“This really is an eye-opener. The selection of buyers and brands makes it the number one platform of the country. Being in an off-site location like Jaipur with the trade makes the relationship stronger.” — Jumeirah Group, multi-edition partner brand
“This is my third time at Luxury Tribe, and the Indian market has become one of our top five markets. The first time I came, the Indian market was just a potential for our brand. In the last three years it has become one of our most important markets, especially for weddings.” — Federico Caligaris Papa, Head of Sales, Il Borro
“Post-pandemic, we’ve seen an increasing number of guests from India travelling to the Maldives. The pattern is increasingly multi-generational. Families are looking for space, flexibility, and the kind of service that responds at any hour of the day.” — Harish Nair, General Manager, Don Maaga Maldives
“Bali is now receiving its third-largest volume of arrivals from India, with close to 30,000 Indian guests arriving every month. For a luxury resort like ours, the Indian market is one of the most important we focus on.” — Wayan Srinadi, The Apurva Kempinski Bali
“The Sukhothai Bangkok has been here for four years in a row. Luxury Tribe is the home of luxury travel buyers who have quite diverse interest. The value of Luxury Tribe is the quality of engagement. The platform brings together the right people in the right setting, and what we see in return is value, not volume.” — Danat Thanoosilp, Director of Sales and Marketing, The Sukhothai Bangkok
“Indian travellers are looking for something truly authentic, and Italy is ready to offer exactly that. Last season at one of our Tuscan hotels, we hosted a beautiful Indian wedding where our Michelin-starred chef cooked alongside the family’s Indian chef to create something genuinely special. This is the kind of cultural exchange Indian clients are looking for, and Luxury Tribe is the platform where these relationships begin.” — Paola Baldi, Autentico Hotels
“I am expecting between ten and fifteen per cent of my total business from the Indian traveller, and what I have seen in this room confirms that is achievable in the coming two to three years. We want to offer unreasonable hospitality, and the Indian market rewards exactly that kind of commitment.” — Frédéric Saveuse, Owner and Managing Director, Villa Cosy Saint-Tropez
“We are the first luxury train in Vietnam, and Luxury Tribe is the platform where we are meeting India’s travel designers and wedding planners for the first time. In three days, we have connected with hand-selected buyers and wedding planners, opened business conversations we expect to close immediately after this edition, and positioned Vietnam in front of India’s highest-spending clients for the first time.” — Helen Nguyen, S Journey Vietnam
“Lizard Island is the only luxury island resort situated right on the Great Barrier Reef, and the Indian market is certainly a growing market for us. What has been happily surprising at Luxury Tribe is the breadth of buyers from around the country. The ILLUME conversations reinforced why our proposition fits the high-net-worth Indian traveller. We are at the beginning of this journey with India, and we wanted to be part of it as soon as we possibly could.” — Geoff Pilbeam, Director of Sales, Lizard Island
“Speaking to Indian travel designers in this room and seeing how open and curious the affluent Indian traveller has become, I see real life-changing experiences we can build together. That is exactly what we like to do at WildChina.” — Andrés Vargas, WildChina
“Luxury Tribe is India’s only luxury travel trade platform that genuinely challenges how we think, not just how we sell. There is no such thing as the Indian traveller. There are many.” — Luis Miguel Manso Preto, LinkedIn reflection on the Benchmark reveal
What Indian buyers said
“India isn’t the next big market in luxury travel — it already is. After engaging with 75-plus global luxury suppliers from over 45 countries at Luxury Tribe, one thing is undeniable. The world isn’t exploring India anymore. It’s competing for it.” — Naresh Chandnani, Indian luxury travel designer
“At a time when luxury travel in India is seeing conscious and deliberate growth, where travel is measured not simply by brand or five-star ratings but by emotion and the rare experiences that drive a deeper narrative — this is the platform where that conversation is actually happening.” — Bhakti Taunk, Indian luxury travel designer and ILLUME panellist
“Luxury Tribe is India’s only luxury travel trade platform showcasing the country’s most exclusive annual gathering for high-end travel designers and the world’s finest luxury hospitality brands. It is the first-ever live budget decode from the people who actually book it.” — Amit Kalssi, Experiential Travel Journeys, ILLUME panellist
The commercial context
India’s luxury travel market reached USD 72.9 billion in 2024. The country adds 33,000 new millionaires every year, projects ultra-high-net-worth growth at 50 percent by 2028, against a global average of 30 percent. One in five Indian millionaires is now under 40. India recorded 38.9 million outbound departures in 2024, with annual international travel spend at USD 17 billion.
The road ahead
Luxury Tribe will return for its eighth edition from 16 to 18 March 2027. The host destination will be announced in the coming months. ILLUME by Luxury Tribe returns for its seventh edition alongside it. World Travel Magazine — India Edition, a quarterly publication for India’s affluent reader, launches in May 2026. The full India Luxury Traveller Benchmark Trend Intelligence Report: ‘Nine Personas Shaping Luxury Travel Behaviour in India’, previewed at ILLUME 2026, follows in the days ahead.
“Luxury Tribe is not what we organise. It is what we have built,” said Sheetal Rastogi. “Seven editions. Hundreds of connections. One platform. And the strongest year ahead we have ever planned for.”
About Luxury Tribe
Luxury Tribe is India’s first and only luxury travel trade platform and knowledge authority, bringing together the country’s most influential travel designers, wedding planners and luxury travel buyers with the world’s finest hospitality brands. Through annual editions, year-round trade intelligence and curated industry connections, the platform shapes the conversation at the heart of India’s luxury travel trade. Founded by Sheetal Rastogi, with co-founders Khushboo Rastogi and Vishal Jain, Luxury Tribe is the home of ILLUME by Luxury Tribe.
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