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India Unveils National Digital Tourism Stack, With Pilot Slated for January 2027
India's Ministry of Tourism and the Open Network for Digital Commerce have launched a National Digital Tourism Stack aimed at pulling homestays, guides and small operators onto shared digital rails. A pilot is planned for January 2027, followed by a broader rollout from July 2027.
The Ministry of Tourism and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) introduced the National Digital Tourism Stack this week, positioning it as connective infrastructure rather than a single booking platform. The system is designed to link homestays, guides, attractions, experiences, transport providers and other tourism businesses through open digital networks.
Implementation will move in stages. A pilot is scheduled for January 2027, with a wider rollout targeted from July 2027.
India's tourism supply is highly fragmented. Large hotels, airlines and headline attractions already run sophisticated online distribution, but thousands of smaller businesses and locally run experiences still rely on a patchwork of standalone websites, social media pages, offline bookings and intermediaries.
The stack is intended to make that long tail easier to discover and book, and eventually to surface through AI-driven channels. Officials are betting that open digital infrastructure can lower the barrier for smaller operators to be found by travelers.
A central goal is to let visitors book beyond the country's largest hotels, attractions and tour operators, widening the range of options available to them.