There has been a slight increase in the number of foreign tourists coming to India in the first six months of the year 2024, but it is still lower than the 2019 level. Despite a 9.1% increase compared to 2023, there has been a decrease of about 10% compared to 2019. Let’s see the complete figures here..
The number of foreign tourists visiting India in the first six months of the year 2024 reached 47,78,374. This number is 9.1% higher than that of 2023, which indicates that the tourism industry is slowly getting back on track after the Covid pandemic. However, this number is still about 10% less than January-June of 2019. In 2019, 52,96,025 foreign tourists came to India, which was a golden period before Covid. This means that the number of foreign tourists has still not reached that level.
Decrease in foreign tourist numbers
On the other hand, the number of international passengers at Indian airports has also seen a boom this year. An increase of 9.9% was registered in the first quarter of 2024, which indicates the increasing interest of passengers and their confidence in air travel. Apart from this, the number of international flights has also increased. In 2024, 674 new weekly flights were started on international routes from India and 1,40,435 additional seats were added.
Indian travelers’ foreign travel boom
The year 2024 also saw a 12.28% increase in foreign travel by Indian travelers. Between January and June 2024, 1,50,22,731 Indians took international flights, while this number was 1,33,80,079 in 2019. Countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, Thailand and Singapore were the most popular for Indian travelers. One of the major reasons for this could be that after Covid, the enthusiasm to travel among Indians and the trend of ‘revenge tourism’ has increased.
Increase in foreign exchange earnings
Foreign Exchange Earnings have also registered an increase of 5.54% in 2024 as compared to 2019. Foreign exchange earnings from January to June this year stood at US$ 15.339 billion, while in 2019 it was US$ 14.524 billion. However, a major reason for this increase is also the weakness of the rupee, due to which there has been an increase of 25.4% in the income in rupees. Despite this, the decline in the number of tourists makes it clear that India needs to take some steps to attract more foreign tourists.
There is a need to promote tourism in India
The government needs a big and effective campaign to promote tourism in India. A new campaign is needed on the lines of earlier campaigns like ‘Incredible India’ or ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. Despite major tourist destinations like Goa, foreign tourists are preferring to visit neighboring countries like Vietnam, Thailand, and Sri Lanka instead of India due to cheaper travel and better facilities.
The need for better infrastructure
To promote tourism in India, there is a need to improve infrastructure such as cleanliness, traffic management and tourist safety. If India has to increase the number of foreign tourists and increase the foreign exchange earned from tourism, then it is important to address these challenges. Also, services like tourist helpline and tourist police should be started so that tourists can get a better experience.
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