GFF 2026: Visa, ONDC look to make India’s tourism offerings easier to discover.

Visa and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) on Friday announced their intent to explore a collaboration aimed at making it easier for travellers to discover Indian tourism experiences, itineraries and local businesses across India.

The announcement was made at the Global Fintech Festival 2026. The proposed collaboration will bring together Visa’s digital commerce and discovery capabilities with ONDC’s open network infrastructure, with the aim of creating a more seamless and accessible tourism discovery experience.

The companies will evaluate ways to use open network principles, trusted commerce and digital innovation to connect travellers with destinations, experiences and businesses across the country.

“Tourism can be a very important asset where ONDC can serve as the digital infrastructure for tourism in the country,” Suresh Sethi, Group Country Manager, India & South Asia, Visa, said at the event.

Sethi said the collaboration could help travellers, including overseas visitors and Indians travelling abroad, discover experiences and curate journeys using AI agents.

“Everything related to tourism, whether discovering experiences, cities or travel itineraries, as well as small and medium businesses of the ecosystem can potentially be housed in one place,” he said.

ONDC eyes stronger demand-side participation

Hrushikesh Mehta, Chief Business Officer, Financial Services, ONDC, said tourism was an important opportunity for the network, which has facilitated more than 500 million lifetime transactions across sectors.

“At ONDC, our North Star is creating markets for sellers and choice for buyers, whether it is in retail, financial services, logistics or tourism,” Mehta said.

He said ONDC had support from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture to build its tourism track but would also need stronger demand-side participation.

“We are very keen to work with Visa to see what we can do together to make that happen and help connect travellers with the diverse experiences that India has to offer,” he said.

The proposed collaboration will also explore ways to support Indian tourism participation across destinations, regions and local economies through an open and trusted digital ecosystem