India’s foreign exchange earnings from tourism are slipping.
Earnings were at around $3 billion in December 2023 and January and February this year. In the last four years, the highest earnings were in December 2019 when they reached $3.2 billion. It plummeted to $0.01 billion in April 2020, the lowest since 2019 and time of the pandemic. Fewer than 3,000 foreign tourists visited India in April 2020.
Meanwhile, the number of Indians travelling abroad is at a multi-year high. In May 2024, as many as 2.9 million Indians travelled abroad – a 13.9 per cent Y-o-Y.
Bangladesh is the largest source of foreign tourists visiting India and accounts for 20.3 per cent of all arrivals, according to the report published in May and covering data for the first five months of the year. This is followed by the United States (16.7 per cent), the United Kingdom (10.5 per cent), Canada (4.8 per cent), and Australia. (4.4 per cent).
One-third of the Indians travelling abroad went to two countries in the Gulf: United Arab Emirates (25 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (10.9 per cent). Indians’ other top destinations in May were the United States (7.2 per cent), Thailand (5.9 per cent), and Singapore (5 per cent). The five countries accounted for more than 50 per cent of Indians travel destinations.
The largest city of departure for Indian tourists going abroad is Delhi (23.76 per cent of the total), followed by Mumbai (20.11 per cent). Other major cities for departing Indian tourists include Cochin (7.38 per cent), Chennai (7.2 per cent), and Hyderabad (7.12 per cent).
For each foreign arrival in May, there were five Indian departures.
First Published: Jul 11 2024 | 4:15 PM IST
