Inbound tourist trail may be less crowded this holiday season

Ahead of the peak year end period for inbound travel to the country, travel industry insiders said considering advance bookings and queries, they expect the upcoming year end quarter to be a muted season for inbound foreign tourist arrivals. Overseas tourist numbers are not expected to reach pre pandemic levels this year as well, they said.

The inbound advance bookings are not as expected, and there is a slowdown, said Dipak Deva, MD, of inbound travel company Travel Corporation India (TCI).

"This is mainly due to no marketing being done for Incredible India. We don't need to offer anything free, we just need to launch an aggressive campaign and we will see the results," said Deva.


"The war with Pakistan, the current situation in the Middle East and Ukraine are not helping. Ambassadors must take tourism seriously and work towards increasing tourism like they look at any other business segment," he added.

Ravi Gosain, president of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) said the growth in inbound tourists is a bit ‘sluggish.’

"Queries from the US are on the lower side currently," said Gosain.

"It is early to say whether we will reach 2019- 20 levels but my estimate is we will fall short of that figure as the promotions and other measures required to reach that level are missing. We are hoping we will some sort of a pick-up from October," he added.

As per the India Tourism Data Compendium 2024, earlier known as India tourism statistics, published by the tourism ministry, foreign tourist arrivals showed ‘consistent growth’ over the decades, rising from 1.28 million in 1981 to 1.68 million in 1991, 2.54 million in 2001, 6.31 million in 2011, and reaching a peak of 10.93 million in 2019. However, Covid-19 and the subsequent nationwide lockdown in 2020 led to a decline in foreign tourist arrivals.

Inbound tourism stays poor due to geopolitical tensions and general poor sentiment, said Anil Kalsi, vice president of Travel Agents Federation of India (TAFI). “The conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, along with the closure of Pakistan’s airspace, have impacted tourism to the Indian subcontinent.”

Kalsi also said that the government also needs to encourage building ‘more marquee properties’ which cater to international tourists.

Queries from the US and Europe are lesser this year, and countries such as Vietnam, Sri Lanka and even Japan are giving stiff competition to India in terms of inbound tourism, said Rajiv Mehra, general Secretary, Federation of Associations in Indian Tourism and Hospitality.

A senior official working with an international tour operator concurred.

“India is probably the only country where tour operators are spending out of their own pocket to bring tourists,” he said requesting not to be identified.

“There is a lack of robust international marketing and promotional activities for inbound tourism by the government. Other Asian countries, such as Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, are making significant progress through consistent marketing," he added.