New Delhi: India’s tourism map is changing. Goa has seen a 50 per cent drop in foreign visitors between 2019 and 2024. And West Bengal and Gujarat are leading the race—with 88 per cent and 281 per cent increase in foreign tourist arrivals respectively—the tourism ministry informed the Lok Sabha.
Member of Parliament Tangella Uday Srinivas sought from tourism minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat the details of the 10 states with the highest number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) for beach and coastal tourism, and their respective shares.
According to Shekhawat’s reply, Maharashtra accounted for 17.69 per cent of all FTVs for coastal tourism in 2019-24, the highest of all states and union territories (UTs). West Bengal came up second at 14.92 per cent, while Gujarat was close behind at 10.86 per cent of beach and coastal FTVs. India recorded 20.57 million FTVs in 2024.
States and UTs that were earlier the top foreign tourist destinations have seen a dramatic decline. Goa recorded 9.37 lakh FTVs in 2019, which fell to 4.6 lakh in 2024. Puducherry accounted for 1.49 lakh FTVs in 2019, a number that fell to 17,819 in 2024. Even Kerala recorded a 37 per cent decrease from 11.89 lakh to 7.38 lakh visitors. Tamil Nadu recorded a drop of 83 per cent, from 68.66 lakh to 11.61 FTVs.
Goa recently witnessed a taxi crisis. Due to the lack of app-based services, tourists found it hard to bear overcharged cab fares.
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Crimes against foreigners
The tourism ministry claims that e-visas have become highly popular among foreign tourists. Currently, there are 14 sub-categories of e-visa, which is now available to the nationals of 175 countries through 38 designated airports, 16 designated seaports, and two land ports.
While India boasts of high FTVs, attacks on foreign tourists have also become common. In 2025, two women, a 27-year-old traveller from Israel and a 29-year-old homestay owner from Anegundi in Koppal, Karnata were allegedly raped by three men.
In March 2024, a Spanish Brazilian couple touring India on motorcycles were attacked, and the woman was gang raped in Dumka, Jharkhand. In April 2022, a 49-year-old woman from New Zealand, who had come to India to attend an Indian-style wedding, was found dead in mysterious circumstances in a Paharganj hotel in Delhi. According to an NCRB report, crime against foreigners in India saw a 24 per cent increase in 2023.
(Edited by Prasanna Bachchhav)