According to Thomas Cook (India)'s India Forex Report 2026 released on Wednesday, tier-II and tier-III cities are now contributing 53% of forex demand, while tier-I cities including metros account for 47%. The report, based on forex transaction data from April 2025 to March 2026 across leisure travel, education and corporate travel segments, shows tier-2 cities contributed 41% and tier-3 cities accounted for 12% of the total demand. As reported by Thomas Cook, the report captures emerging trends in consumer demographics, travel corridors, purchase journeys, payment preferences and overseas spending. The trend points to a broadening of India's outbound travel and foreign exchange market beyond the country's traditional metropolitan centres, with the report noting that "Emerging India is driving the next phase of forex growth, with Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities contributing over half of overall demand."
Younger travellers aged between 18 and 24 years are emerging as the fastest adopters of digital-first forex channels, with 25% of customers now transacting digitally. According to Thomas Cook's chief business officer for foreign exchange, Deepesh Verma, the company is seeing strong momentum across app-led transactions, WhatsApp journeys and quick-commerce-enabled forex fulfilment, particularly among younger travellers. The report reveals that digital forex adoption across Thomas Cook's channels had grown 25% year-on-year, while DIY platform usage had grown 50% year-on-year over the last two years. While branch-assisted purchases continued to dominate with a 75% share, digital channels accounted for 25%, indicating a gradual shift towards digital-first forex transactions among Indian travellers. The report also recorded a shift towards digital forex purchases, with this reflected as a gradual move towards digital-first forex transactions among Indian travellers.
The report reveals that consumers aged 25-40 years accounted for the largest share at 37%, closely followed by those aged 41-60 years at 36%. Travellers aged over 60 years accounted for 21%, while those between 18 and 24 years made up 6%. As per Thomas Cook, millennials and Gen X together account for nearly three-fourths of forex usage, with the report stating that "Millennials and Gen X together account for nearly three-fourths of forex usage." The report also noted that senior travellers continued to make an important contribution to outbound forex demand, highlighting the diverse age demographics driving India's forex market. Leisure travel remained the biggest driver of forex demand, accounting for 57%, followed by corporate travel at 27% and student travel at 16%. The report highlights how forex demand was increasingly diversified, with leisure travel leading the market alongside sustained demand from business travel and overseas education segments.
The report reveals a significant shift away from the dominant US dollar towards destination-specific currencies such as the Thai baht, UAE dirham, Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit and Vietnamese dong. The United States remained the biggest currency market, with the US dollar accounting for 49% of forex demand. Europe, represented by the euro and British pound, accounted for 23%, while Asian currencies including the Thai baht, Singapore dollar, Japanese yen, Vietnamese dong and Indonesian rupiah accounted for 11%. The Middle East, led by the UAE dirham and Saudi riyal, accounted for 9%, while Australia and New Zealand currencies contributed 5%. Canada accounted for the remaining 3%. While cash remains dominant among holiday travellers with a 75% share of transactions, forex cards account for 39% of the total load value. The report also noted a significant shift away from the dominant US dollar towards destination-specific currencies.
