Arrivals from Bangladesh fell 73.4% in 2025. The tourism ministry used it to explain away an overall decline, but a parliamentary committee was not convinced.
Maharashtra accounted for 17.69% of foreign tourist arrivals in 2019-24, the highest of all states and union territories. In 2019, the top spot belonged to Tamil Nadu.
Maybe the only way to truly police Indian men’s behaviour is to have their mothers accompany them on every trip. Should they want to approach a stranger, they must ask mummy first.
Much of the praise has focused on the ‘protective’ men in the crowd. It recentres male authority over public space. Do women require guardianship simply to exist outside?
RBI data shows 26 states and Union Territories couldn’t regain pre-pandemic foreign tourist footfalls in 2024, but domestic tourism surged 27 percent compared to 2019.
While NRI arrivals crossed 2019 levels according to tourism ministry’s report, experts say govt must focus on foreign tourists as they are the main spenders amid international travellers.
Want to explore Old Delhi’s lanes and rich history? You can connect with 10-year-old Anabiya, 16-year-old Kajal, 17-year-old Chandni, or 21-year-old Heena.
India’s pilgrimage business is booming, with choppers for the rich and dorm beds for the poor. But the days of wooing foreigners to the Taj, Jaisalmer, and Palace on Wheels are over.
Many tourists are changing plans and looking for alternative holiday destinations within India. They’re steering clear of Leh, Rishikesh, Shimla and other popular spots.
This special edition of Cut The Clutter, straight from the Siliguri corridor, details the strategic importance of the narrow strip of land in West Bengal, and how it’s a vital link connecting the Northeast to the rest of India.
We now live in a world order that will keep shifting. India must use this window. This also means we remain disciplined enough not to be knee-jerked into reacting to what Pakistan sees as its moment in the sun.
Goa today is the criminal gangrene of India, and the whole ecosystem of tourism is corrupted. Everybody is on take, and especially the police, and the entire tourist interface with locals. Energy is dark, so no more Yoga trainers /healers bringing groups to Goa. First the decent ones shifted to Gokarna, and now elsewhere. Women singles stopped visiting after Nirbhaya rape case. Check the drop in arrivals ever since. Sharks moved in at first sniff of foreign currency. Check sex trafficking from NE in Goa today, especially the casinoes. The Goa charm of the earlier decades is gone. And before anything else, check the Police Mafia on roads of Goa-Karnataka foreign tourist destinations.
I have been traveling to India since 2003..
love its culture, people & enjoy walking most years now in himalayas .. I can tell you though that one of the main reasons tourists & travellers are staying away is because of the need for a visa . India needs to drop this reqirement and more people will come..Also dont compare with thailand as its smaller and hotels are established ..
Except for a few places like Beach resorts all prime tourist places are being thronged by monied domestic tourists.. from north India coming to explore south and vice versa… Our Recent new year eve we spent ₹14k for the night fr 4 pax which otherwise would hv cost just 6k . A place like Cherai beach rooms selling for ₹24k +… Online the rates went up as high as Rs1 lac plus..
I think GoI should divert those Indians going abroad for holidays to tourist spots in India… that way we don’t need many foreign tourists to come here..
The taxi mafia is main culprit in Indian tourism. For 15 minuites travel in a jeep in the name of sight seeing, we were charged Rs.7000 in gulmarg, kashmir.
Such a shallow, brainless article – with a run-of-the-mill “blame-the-politician” conclusion! Expecting more analysis or thinking from Vir has become pointless. Why are flights or hotels more expensive to Indian destinations, why are the facilities not comparable to his usual foreign jaunts, etc and what could be initiatives by government, private companies and individuals to improve them? These could have been brought out better but no, a simple, price comparison of flights or hotel rooms is all he’s worth now.
Definitely an area where we need to focus as a country and some compelling numbers about the foreign tourists coming to India.
Would be good to also have domestic tourism numbers to give a perspective on how the domestic sector has grown.
Goa today is the criminal gangrene of India, and the whole ecosystem of tourism is corrupted. Everybody is on take, and especially the police, and the entire tourist interface with locals. Energy is dark, so no more Yoga trainers /healers bringing groups to Goa. First the decent ones shifted to Gokarna, and now elsewhere. Women singles stopped visiting after Nirbhaya rape case. Check the drop in arrivals ever since. Sharks moved in at first sniff of foreign currency. Check sex trafficking from NE in Goa today, especially the casinoes. The Goa charm of the earlier decades is gone. And before anything else, check the Police Mafia on roads of Goa-Karnataka foreign tourist destinations.
I have been traveling to India since 2003..
love its culture, people & enjoy walking most years now in himalayas .. I can tell you though that one of the main reasons tourists & travellers are staying away is because of the need for a visa . India needs to drop this reqirement and more people will come..Also dont compare with thailand as its smaller and hotels are established ..
Except for a few places like Beach resorts all prime tourist places are being thronged by monied domestic tourists.. from north India coming to explore south and vice versa… Our Recent new year eve we spent ₹14k for the night fr 4 pax which otherwise would hv cost just 6k . A place like Cherai beach rooms selling for ₹24k +… Online the rates went up as high as Rs1 lac plus..
I think GoI should divert those Indians going abroad for holidays to tourist spots in India… that way we don’t need many foreign tourists to come here..
The taxi mafia is main culprit in Indian tourism. For 15 minuites travel in a jeep in the name of sight seeing, we were charged Rs.7000 in gulmarg, kashmir.
Such a shallow, brainless article – with a run-of-the-mill “blame-the-politician” conclusion! Expecting more analysis or thinking from Vir has become pointless. Why are flights or hotels more expensive to Indian destinations, why are the facilities not comparable to his usual foreign jaunts, etc and what could be initiatives by government, private companies and individuals to improve them? These could have been brought out better but no, a simple, price comparison of flights or hotel rooms is all he’s worth now.
We have shifted from the motto of atithi devo bhava to lakshmi param deva. I don’t feel relaxed when i travel in india at all. It is full of scams.
But figures from Oyo gives the opposite . 4x increase in coorge srinagar varanasi ayodhya Siddhi and what not