Ministry of Tourism, ONDC launch digital tourism stack to connect 23,000 experiences

The Ministry of Tourism and Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) on September 28 launched the National Digital Tourism Stack (NDTS), an open digital infrastructure aimed at connecting tourism businesses with travellers across digital platforms.

The initiative will allow homestays, guides, attractions and other tourism providers to list their offerings once and become discoverable across participating platforms. It is designed to cover more than 23,000 tourism experiences and homestays. More than 1,000 tourism experiences, including 170 Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) monuments and 29 museums, are already transacting on the ONDC Network.

India’s tourism sector contributed 5.22% to GDP and supported 8.46 crore jobs in 2023-24, according to official Ministry of Tourism data. However, smaller tourism businesses and lesser-known destinations remain fragmented across online and offline channels, limiting their access to wider demand.

The Stack is intended to connect destinations, stays, experiences, transport services and other tourism providers through shared digital infrastructure, reducing the need for businesses to integrate separately with multiple platforms.

AI-led travel planning and a unified booking experience

The Stack is designed to support AI-led travel discovery and planning, including personal digital agents. It aims to bring different parts of a traveller’s journey together, from accommodation and transport to local experiences.

Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture, said, “Tourism is no longer just about visiting places; today’s travellers seek authentic experiences-local cuisine, local art, local traditions and meaningful connections that create memories, not merely photographs. The next phase of India’s tourism journey must ensure that growth reaches beyond popular destinations, creating opportunities for local communities, entrepreneurs, women and youth while making tourism more balanced, inclusive and sustainable. When we’re talking about this digital tourism stack, it’s definitely about technology first, but it’s the impact that it can create at the national level, is what we’re talking about. This is an AI native digital infrastructure for the tourism industry.”

Bhuvnesh Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, said, “Artificial Intelligence will be at the front end of the National Digital Tourism Stack, with the vision of ‘One ticket, One pass’ to bring together a traveller’s journey across India. Currently, flights, hotels, cabs, boat rides, or even an ‘aarti’ at a temple, etc., need to be booked through different websites. This fragmentation makes the process a digitally painful experience for a tourist planning to visit place. The National Digital Tourism Stack is a step towards bringing these services together through common digital infrastructure to enable a more seamless, connected and easy journey for travellers.”

The Ministry of Tourism will work with states and Union Territories to curate and validate tourism experiences. Karthick Prabhu, Vice President, Travel, ONDC, said, “Tourism is fundamentally an ecosystem play, bringing together tourist destinations, stays, experiences, mobility, local businesses, platforms and government systems. ONDC’s National Digital Tourism Stack creates an opportunity to connect these participants through shared and open digital infrastructure rather than building them in silos. As travel discovery increasingly moves towards AI-led interfaces and personal digital agents, that infrastructure also needs to remain trusted and adaptable to new forms of traveller experience.”

The Stack will also include mechanisms for provider credentials, service standards, ratings, reviews and grievance redressal.