India’s Lost Battle To Attract Foreign Tourists

Yan Dutremble, a trucker from Montreal, Canada, first visited India in January 2023. The first challenge he faced was getting an Indian visa, which has specific requirements for photo size and a local address. Previously, Dutremble had visited Thailand, where he got a visa on arrival. This was one in a series of challenges he faced upon arrival in India, including a no-show pre-booked pick-up taxi and a cancelled hotel reservation. Dutremble was left looking for a new hotel at 11 p.m. in New Delhi.

Dutremble enjoyed his stay once he was past the initial shock of the traffic and dust. He recalls his trip as one filled with friendly Indians and novel experiences.

Kirrily Amour, an Australian television producer and sports event manager, has travelled to India as many as eight times, for work and tourism. The first roadblock she encountered on a trip to the country was the arduous visa process, especially for longer stays. “On my first ever tourist trip, I declared that I worked in the media. The Indian government is not keen on people coming for journalism. My application was stalled on the verge of being rejected. The company that I had worked for had to provide a letter stating that I was not employed by them and travelling for journalistic purposes. I was going as a tourist. Following this, I got my visa,” she recalls. Armour now chooses to apply for an Indian visa through an agent.

Apart from this and smaller hiccups like the difficulty in booking train tickets without a local credit card (pre-2016), Amour continues to return and enjoys her stay in India.

Anna, a writer, and American citizen who could travel to Dubai on an e-visa with ease, went through a similar experience when travelling to India for a wedding. “I was freelance editing for a food news publication at the time so I listed my profession as a journalist. I didn’t think much about it because my speciality was in food and dining, among the most non-controversial topics someone could cover,” she recalls. After a series of additional questions, her visa was rejected. “I emailed a few Indian immigration lawyers but they said I would not be able to get a visa since I had declared my profession on my application. I applied again but with marketing as my occupation. I sent a letter from my friend’s father, who had previously worked for the Indian government as a reference, as an extra measure. My application got approved this time,” she says.

Anna went on to love the country, its diversity, and the food. Her international cards wouldn’t work at several outlets, but she’d always find help.

Facebook groups and Reddit threads have numerous foreign travellers recounting stories of untoward experiences travelling in India. Especially when they opt for solo travel. There are discussions about the documentation an Indian e-visa requires and occasional delays.

Despite the allure of India, with its rich history and vibrant culture, foreign tourist arrivals have yet to reach pre-pandemic levels, causing concern for the tourism industry. This decline can be attributed to several factors, including cumbersome visa processes, the high cost of travel and accommodation compared to other South Asian destinations, and negative experiences shared online by travellers. These challenges, coupled with the rise of attractive visa-free options in neighbouring countries, have led to a noticeable shift in traveller preferences, impacting businesses and the overall tourism landscape in India

A declining trend

While inbound tourism numbers have witnessed year-on-year growth following the pandemic, they haven’t yet breached pre-pandemic levels. In the first half of 2024, 47.78 lakh foreign tourists had arrived in India. According to the Ministry of Tourism, while this number is 9.1 % higher than in 2023, it continues to be 9.8 % lower than in 2019.

Monthly bulletins have a similar story to tell. The Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in March 2024 were 8,59,688, lower than in March 2019 with 9,78,236 FTAs but higher than in March 2023 at 7.95,827.

The World Economic Forum’s tourism index places India 39th in a list of 119 countries in 2024. This ranking stood at 34th in 2019, witnessing a significant drop to 54th in 2021 (with a change in parameters).

Compare this with the growth in tourism in another South Asian country: Vietnam. Travel is set to surge 13 % beyond pre-pandemic levels in 2024, and will account for 7 % of Vietnam’s overall GDP. Similar tourism growth trends are visible in other South Asian countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

The numbers paint a somewhat bleak picture that tour operators and hospitality professionals on-ground can confirm. Hari Sukumar, Senior Vice President, Jaypee Hotels, Agra, believes the drop witnessed in the last three years could be significant. “There is almost a 30 % reduction in overall Federation of Tour Operators (FTOs) bringing Travelers into Agra, especially during the peak season of winters,” he says adding that hotels view destination weddings and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) sector as more lucrative businesses despite being located in the famed golden triangle of tourism in the country.

Goa is no different, Ajay Shinde, a senior hospitality professional who has spent 16 years in the state, told The Core. He places the percentage of decline in foreign tourists between 20 to 25%. “Pre-Covid, foreign tourists were visible everywhere in Goa, especially from countries like Russia and the UK,” he says. “Initially, the rise in domestic tourism did compensate for some of these losses, but costs going down in other South Asian countries has changed the story. The number of hotels and keys increases year-on-year, so the occupancy share for every hotel continues to decrease,” he adds.

Shinde also tells us that this dip has impacted not just hotels but the entire tourism industry in the state, down to seasonal businesses and souvenir shops.

The reasons

Tour operators, hoteliers, and analysts told The Core that the chief reason for this is the easy accessibility and affordability of other South Asian destinations. Several countries including Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, offer visa-free entry to tourists in season, in a bid to boost tourism.

“Both Sri Lanka and Thailand have extended the free visas as they see tourism growth,” says Reji Philip of Mumbai-based Cosmos Travels. “While visa cost may not be a barrier for foreign tourists, incentives like these boost the possibility of travel. We need to look at a pre-screening process to remove and process timelines closely,” Sushil Kumar, Vice President, Riya Travels.

Foreign tourists in India confirmed that while the e-visa process has made travel more feasible, it comes with its share of cumbersome documentation and uncertain timelines. “Sometimes the website is down and the wait time is higher,” says Philip.

Documentation and visa process aside, travel to South Asian countries, for both foreign and Indian travellers is also proving to be more cost-effective. “The hotel you find in Thailand for Rs 6,000-7,000 a night, may cost you as much as Rs 15,000 a night in India. Additionally, they get better connectivity and cheaper packages for larger groups,” says Philip.

Joanne, a nurse from the UK, who has travelled to India four times, opted for four and five-star hotels in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. “They are quite pricey in comparison to the big cities in the other countries like Vietnam and Cambodia. Though the cost for travel and food is comparable,” she says.

A bunch of other reasons come up with tour operators and tourists. The economic slowdown in Europe has impacted inbound tourists from the region. The Russia-Ukraine war has substantially affected tourists from Russia. Flights from China have become infrequent after the pandemic, and the diplomatic crisis with Canada is also likely to impact tourism numbers. “Then there are the smaller things like considerably lower VAT refunds for tourists,” says Philip.

While tourists from specific countries may be opting out of travel to India, Paras Jasrai, Senior Economic Analyst at India Ratings, tells us that the overall inflow of foreign tourists has been impacted.

Numbers most believe, are unlikely to breach pre-pandemic levels even in the upcoming tourist season.

The solutions

In the Union Budget for the last fiscal year, Rs 33 crore was allocated for promotion and publicity for international travel, and a whopping Rs 177 crore was earmarked for promotion of domestic travel. The latter figure has more than doubled from the previous allocation of Rs 75 crore.

“While the government has announced initiatives for tourism infrastructure development and some tourism schemes, in the shorter term, better marketing is required,” says Jasarai. “For example, everyone has heard of or seen the Bali swing, can we not do the same in Kerala?” he asks.

Kumar offers another example, and says, “Khajuraho is popular among Europeans. It also has a lot of flora and fauna. The place is well-developed for tourism but there is a lack of awareness of these destinations through travel partners in other countries”. “Social media is also playing an important role. Influencers are being used to promote destinations like Georgia, and it is working. Saudi Arabia is promoting itself as a destination in India. G20 should have done that for us, but it didn’t,” he adds.

The figures may disappoint, but the tourism industry is full of hope for the next few years. On World Tourism Day on September 27, the Ministry of Tourism announced one lakh free visas as part of its campaign ‘Chalo, India’. The number may be minuscule for the size of the country, but tour operators believe it is a step in the right direction.

“India as a package has much more to offer than any of these countries. And once they come here, the infrastructure and public transport have to support it,” says Kumar.

In Goa, Shinde tells us, better roads, cleaner beaches, a new airport, and feeder buses, have all been helpful. “Quarterly meetings with hotel associations and government bodies will help chart a better path ahead. However, there should be better sync between states and the centre to revive inbound foreign tourism,” he says.