After JFK airport in New York, San Francisco has emerged because the quantity two gateway for Indians within the US which is principally pushed by the growth and new continuous flights of Air India, in response to officers who had been in Mumbai this week to discover avenues to faucet the massive Indian market.

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“Our market measurement shows there are about 1,100 passengers per day each way between San Francisco, the Bay Area and India,” Kevin Bumen, Chief Financial & Commercial Officer at San Francisco International Airport advised PTI in an interview after concluding his two-day go to to Mumbai.

Air India, he mentioned, has been an actual shiny spot throughout the pandemic with a service that grew and actually made essentially the most of a troublesome market and made some massive strikes with their growth in San Francisco.

“Today San Francisco is the number two gateway in the US behind John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). We’re 17 flights a week. JFK has 21 flights a week. And if United Airlines were operating their full schedule, we (San Francisco) would be the number one airport in the US for India service. That would add an additional 14 flights a week if United was operating at full capacity,” he mentioned.

Air India now has nonstop flights from San Francisco to New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore.

“It’s an exciting story,” mentioned Bumen, who led a delegation of officers from San Francisco this week. The Indian travellers to San Francisco are actually approaching the pre-pandemic degree, mentioned Hubertus Funke, govt vice chairman and chief tourism officer of the San Francisco Travel Association.

From a customer quantity perspective, San Francisco Airport had about 210,000 guests in 2019.

“Now we are just getting to about 211,000 visitors this year,” he advised PTI.

“That’s a really good increase from last year and we’re expecting double-digit growth out of India for the next couple of years as well. So, we’re seeing a lot of potential out of the Indian market. We know that it was a very strong market before and we kind of want to continue the trend and see what we can do to really leverage these opportunities moving forward,” he mentioned.

A major focus of this go to was to underscore India’s significance as one of many fastest-growing abroad customer markets for San Francisco. The delegates are devoted to creating immersive journey experiences and strengthening cultural ties for Indian vacationers visiting San Francisco.

India, one of many fastest-growing abroad customer markets for San Francisco, has emerged as a key focus space for SFO and SFTA. In 2022, India ranked amongst San Francisco’s prime 5 customer markets, with 150,000 guests welcomed. Visitor quantity from India is ready to develop by 34 per cent in 2023, a testomony to the robust ties between the 2 areas, a media launch mentioned.

During their keep in Mumbai from October ninth to tenth, the delegates held conferences with key stakeholders. These interactions concerned exploring avenues for fostering mutual understanding, cooperation and potential collaborations sooner or later.

“The cultural richness and economic vibrancy of India resonate deeply with San Francisco’s spirit. We are committed to fostering stronger ties and enhancing mutual understanding between our two regions. India’s exponential growth as a visitor market fuels our enthusiasm to create compelling travel experiences for Indian tourists in San Francisco,” Funke mentioned. Bumen mentioned India holds immense potential for San Francisco.

“San Francisco International Airport is proud to be the premier worldwide gateway to the West Coast, making certain seamless journey experiences for Indian travellers. Our intention is to additional strengthen this connection, making SFO the popular alternative for travellers from India,” he mentioned.

Funke mentioned along with the variety of Indians travelling to the US by way of San Francisco, there was a big development within the variety of guests spending out of India.

“For 2023, we’re expecting that number to be almost USD 440 million and then for 2024, we’re expecting another 63 per cent in spend from Indian visitors,” he mentioned in response to a query.

“The potential that we’re seeing is very important and that is obviously manifested by the demand in airlift as well and especially the expansion that Air India has given to SFO. We are seeing really good potential for the next few years also from a visitor standpoint,” he mentioned.