technology•Sat, September 12, 2026•4 min read

Why Visa and ONDC’s New Partnership Could Change How You Travel in India

At the Global Fintech Festival 2026, Visa and the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) announced plans to collaborate on a new digital framework for Indian tourism. The partnership aims to make discovering travel itineraries and local businesses as seamless as booking a ride.

A New Digital Foundation for Indian Tourism

The landscape of Indian tourism is poised for a major digital upgrade. During the Global Fintech Festival 2026, industry giants Visa and the government-backed Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) revealed their intent to collaborate. The goal? To transform how both domestic and international travelers navigate the country's vast array of experiences.

By combining Visa’s global digital commerce capabilities with ONDC’s open network infrastructure, the two entities hope to create a centralized, trustworthy platform where travelers can easily discover everything from popular landmarks to hidden local gems.

Visa and ONDC leadership exploring new digital frontiers for the Indian tourism sector.

Why This Partnership Matters

Currently, travelers often rely on fragmented platforms to curate their trips. This proposed collaboration seeks to solve that by housing destination data, travel itineraries, and local business information in one interconnected ecosystem.

Simplified Discovery: Enabling travelers to find curated journeys and experiences through AI agents.
Empowering Local Businesses: Giving small and medium enterprises in the tourism sector greater visibility.
Unified Infrastructure: Leveraging ONDC’s digital public infrastructure to create a seamless, trustworthy environment.
Cross-Border Appeal: Enhancing the experience for international tourists visiting India as well as Indians traveling abroad.

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 and South Asia, Visa

The Future of Seamless Travel

The potential integration of AI agents could be the real game changer here. By allowing users to interact with a system that understands specific preferences, the process of planning a complex trip across India could shift from hours of manual searching to a simple, automated conversational interface. While the project is still in the exploration phase, it signals a major shift toward treating tourism as a key component of India’s growing digital public infrastructure.

Key Takeaways

Visa and ONDC are exploring a partnership to improve tourism discovery in India.
The initiative leverages ONDC’s open network principles to connect travelers with local businesses.
The partnership was formally announced at the Global Fintech Festival 2026.
Future plans include the potential use of AI agents to help users curate travel itineraries.
The project aims to unify the travel experience for both domestic and international visitors.

FAQ

What is the primary goal of the Visa and ONDC partnership?

The partnership aims to simplify tourism discovery by creating a unified digital framework where travelers can easily find itineraries, experiences, and local businesses.

Where was this collaboration announced?

The announcement was made at the Global Fintech Festival 2026.

How will this affect small businesses?

By integrating into the ONDC ecosystem, local tourism-related businesses gain better digital visibility and access to a wider pool of travelers.

Will this help international travelers?

Yes, the partnership is designed to make it easier for both international tourists visiting India and Indians traveling abroad to discover new destinations.