Seamless visa processes, better infra to help India attract more foreign tourists: Agoda

Making the visa processes seamless and improving tourism infrastructure are crucial for India to attract more foreign visitors, Agoda CEO Omri Morgenshtern said, highlighting the country's enormous potential to emerge as a top tourism destination globally.

In an interview with PTI, Omri, the chief executive officer of the Singapore-headquartered digital travel firm, also said it is looking at further improving its flight booking options for India.

According to statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism, India reported 18.9 million international arrivals in 2023. However, only half - about 9.5 million - were actual foreign tourists. The remaining 9.38 million were people of Indian origin or non-resident Indians visiting friends and family. The 9.5 million foreign tourist arrivals were over 10 per cent shy of the pre-COVID-19 level of nearly 11 million reported in 2019.


"I think there's work to be done on the ease of coming in, removing the friction (related to) visas and processes, and...improving the infrastructure," the Agoda CEO told PTI.

According to him, once the visa process becomes seamless and infrastructure is improved, "the sky is the limit for India" to attract foreign tourists.

He shared that hyperlocalisation has helped the travel booking platform make inroads into the Indian market, observing that Agoda is eyeing further improvement in its flight offering options for India.

Improving air travel, especially the budget segment, and multiple flight options can also boost tourism in India, Omri said.