New Delhi, Sep 7: India maintained a stable contribution to Germany’s inbound tourism with Indian visitor nights up 0.1 per cent year‑on‑year and the country’s ten leading city destinations accounting for about 61 per cent of all Indian overnight stays, a statement said on Monday.

Germany recorded 36.4 million international overnight stays in the first half of 2026, “while India maintains stable growth and strong long-term potential,” a statement from the German National Tourist Office said.

Germany’s international overnight stays saw year-on-year growth of 0.5 per cent, and June overnight stays rose 1.6 per cent compared with June 2025.

“India remains an important and highly promising source market for Destination Germany. The stable performance during the first five months of 2026 demonstrates the resilience of Indian travel demand despite geopolitical uncertainty and changing economic conditions,” said Romit Theophilus, Director – Marketing & Sales Office, India, GNTO.

Indian travellers are increasingly seeking safe, well-connected destinations that offer authentic cultural experiences, premium hospitality and excellent value, Theophilus said.

Germany is strongly positioned to meet these expectations, with its diverse cities, heritage, natural landscapes and efficient public transport network, he added.

“The Indian audience for Germany is also young and experience-driven, with an average traveller age of 38 years. Around 95 per cent of Indian travellers to Germany are below the age of 55, highlighting the market’s significant long-term potential,” Theophilus said.

He also expressed optimism about continued demand during the second half of 2026.

Hotel occupancy also increased by 1.2 percentage points to 65.5 per cent during the same period.

Germany offers a compelling combination of vibrant cities, historic attractions, nature, premium experiences and convenient onward connections across Europe for Indian travellers, the German National Tourist Office said.

Mumbai, Sep 7: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the seventh edition of the Global Fintech Fest (GFF) 2026 in Mumbai on Tuesday, marking the commencement of one of the world’s largest annual fintech gatherings that brings together policymakers, regulators, financial institutions, technology companies, investors and academia.

The four-day event, scheduled from September 8 to 11, will focus on emerging technologies and their role in advancing inclusive finance. Since its inception in 2020, GFF has evolved into a global platform for discussions on the future of finance and digital innovation, according to a Press Information Bureau statement.

The theme of GFF 2026 is “Potential to Impact: Agentic AI, Tokenisation, Quantum – Trusted, Connected, Global Systems for Inclusive Finance”.

GFF 2026 has been designed as a convergence point for policy, regulation, technology, capital and industry on a common platform. It seeks to build on India’s leadership in digital payments and financial inclusion and move from potential to impact. The discussions will focus on how Agentic AI, programmable finance, quantum technologies and other critical and emerging technologies can create trusted, inclusive and measurable outcomes for citizens, enterprises and economies globally, a government statement said on Monday.

Earlier, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently positioned Mumbai not just as the financial capital of India, but as the country’s Fintech Capital. He emphasised that Mumbai historically under-leveraged its standing as India’s financial hub. By marrying traditional banking and capital markets with cutting-edge digital infrastructure, the city is evolving into an integrated fintech ecosystem.

Addressing perceptions around tech hubs like Bengaluru or Hyderabad, CM Fadnavis highlighted that Maharashtra leads the country in absolute numbers of startups, venture funding, and total unicorns, driven heavily by fintech enterprises. He further stated that Maharashtra currently houses over 60 per cent of India’s total data centre capacity (exceeding 1 GW operational capacity).

The state’s power-surplus status and dedicated cloud infrastructure provide the technical backbone required for low-latency financial transactions and digital payment processing. ​

The state government implemented dedicated fintech policies offering plug-and-play parks, single-window clearances, and rapid land allotments (often within 24-36 hours) to lower the cost and friction of doing business.

Through broader initiatives — including AI Innovation Parks, cyber-security centres, and digital public infrastructure — the administration is aligning the fintech domain with emerging technologies to secure financial networks and scale solutions globally, said the industry department sources.

Mumbai, Sep 7: Domestic equity benchmarks opened marginally lower on Monday weighed by concerns over liquidity absorption from a busy initial public offering calendar and persistent tensions in the Middle East that have pushed crude oil prices higher.

Nifty 50 started the trading session declining 14.55 points or 0.06 per cent at 23,883.15, while Sensex opened 69.38 points or 0.09 per cent lower at 76,446.05.

In early trade, Nifty Media index fell 1.26 per cent and Nifty IT index declined 1.15 per cent, leading sectoral losses.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto, Nifty Chemicals, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Cement indices were also in the red zone.

In contrast, Nifty Oil & Gas index rose 0.06 per cent, while Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty gained up to 0.38 per cent.

According to analysts, the equity market had been drifting lower for four weeks despite positive economic and corporate earnings news with elevated crude prices and the IPO boom emerging as key headwinds.

“There are eleven mainboard IPOs hitting the market this week. The mega IPOs are also expected this month and the offerings could absorb significant liquidity and divert investor focus from the secondary market,” according to them.

Technically, the market experts said the Nifty’s downside marker at 23,860 remained intact, while the index faced resistance near 23,960. The 23,800 level was seen as a key support with a break below it potentially opening the way towards the low 23,000s with an initial objective of 23,570.

The 24,150-24,215 region remains a hurdle to be crossed before strength is confirmed, analysts said.

In addition, crude oil prices traded higher on Monday as rising tensions between the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz raised concerns about potential supply disruptions.