What is the Digital Tourism Stack?
Think of the National Digital Tourism Stack (NDTS) not as a single app or website, but as a shared digital highway for the entire tourism industry. Launched on World Tourism Day 2026, it is an open-source infrastructure designed to connect thousands of individual
tourism providers—from homestay owners to tour guides—with travellers across the country. Currently, a tourist has to navigate multiple, disconnected platforms to book flights, hotels, and local activities, a process officials describe as 'digitally painful'. The stack aims to solve this fragmentation by creating a unified ecosystem where all services can communicate with each other. This digital public infrastructure will handle key functions like verified identities, digital payments, ratings, and grievance redressal, building a foundation of trust and reliability.
The Power of an Open Network
The key to this entire initiative is its integration with the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). ONDC is a framework that unbundles e-commerce, preventing a few large platforms from dominating the market. Just as UPI revolutionised payments by allowing transactions between any bank or app, ONDC allows any registered seller to be discoverable on any participating buyer app. For tourism, this means a small, verified homestay in a remote village can be listed once and become visible across numerous travel apps and websites integrated with the network. This 'list once, reach multiple platforms' model dramatically lowers the barrier to entry for small businesses, freeing them from dependency on single booking platforms and their high commission fees.
The 23,000 Experiences Goal
The 2028 target of onboarding 23,000 offerings is a concrete measure of the project's ambition. This number is broken down into approximately 14,000 unique tourism experiences and 9,000 homestays. These are not just hotel rooms; 'experiences' can include anything from cultural attractions and curated walking tours to adventure activities and visiting local artisans. The Ministry of Tourism will work with states and union territories to curate and validate these offerings to ensure quality. Even before this wider rollout, over 1,000 tourism experiences, including access to 170 ASI monuments and 29 museums, are already transacting on the ONDC network, providing a solid foundation for the expansion.
Benefits for Travellers and Businesses
For travellers, the stack promises a more seamless and trustworthy planning experience. It will enable the discovery of lesser-known destinations and authentic local experiences that are often invisible on major platforms. With verified providers and a standardised system for payments and reviews, tourists can book with greater confidence. For small and medium-sized tourism businesses, the benefits are even more profound. It offers them direct access to a national market, increasing their visibility and enabling them to compete on a more level playing field. This democratization of the digital marketplace is expected to channel tourist spending back into local communities, supporting entrepreneurs, women, and youth.
The Road to 2028
The rollout of the National Digital Tourism Stack is planned in careful phases. The initial preparation and development will take place through the end of 2026. A pilot phase is scheduled to begin in January 2027, where the first batch of homestays and experiences will go live on the network. Following the pilot, a nationwide scaling and onboarding drive will run from mid-2027 to the end of 2028 to reach the 23,000-offering target. The project is also being designed as an 'AI-first' system, envisioning a future where personal digital agents can help travellers curate complex journeys with a single pass, fulfilling the vision of 'One ticket, One pass'.
