Foreign tourist arrivals pick up, but still a long way behind 2019 levels

Govt spells out two-pronged strategy to improve numbers; but industry warns of low interest in India

Foreign tourist arrivals are growing month-on-month with the resumption of scheduled international flights in March-end and easing of Covid-19 test regulations in February. However, the numbers are still a fair distance behind 2019 levels.

Over 423,000 tourists arrived in May, which was a 7.8 per cent rise on a month-on-month basis. The number of foreign tourists visiting in April and March was 392,930 and 342,308, respectively, according to data available with the tourism ministry.

The US, Bangladesh, the UK, Australia, and Canada were the top five source markets for tourist arrivals in the January-May period, accounting for nearly 65 per cent of all tourist arrivals. The US accounted for over 25 per cent of all arrivals.

On a year-on-year basis, the number of tourists arriving in January-May quadrupled to over 1.6 million, compared with 437,225 in the same period last year, which was affected by the second wave of pandemic.

However, this is 64 per cent lower compared to the first five months of 2019. Between January-May of 2019, India had received over 4.5 million foreign tourists.

Covid shock

The government had clamped down on foreign air travel in March 2020 to curb the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the subsequent months it began gradually opening up entry for certain categories of overseas citizens of India and foreign nationals. These included business visitors, healthcare professionals, engineers, and technical specialists.

The issue of tourist visas started only in October 2021, initially for those travelling on chartered flights. It was extended to passengers of all international flights from November.

The government also issued over 338,000 free tourist visas till March-end as a part of its scheme to encourage inbound tourism.

Last July, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced that the government will grant 500,000 free visas till March end, in a bid to support the tourism sector.

Two-pronged strategy

According to Union tourism secretary Arvind Singh, the government has a two-pronged strategy for domestic and inbound tourism growth. Singh said the focus is on developing infrastructure at tourist destinations, improving customer experience and aggressive marketing.

“We have set up dedicated teams in important countries. Promotion efforts are being gradually launched. We have started online promotion efforts,” Singh said. As a next step, in-person events and campaigns would be held in important source markets to attract more tourists.

“In the coming months we will see more domestic travel. International travellers will come with the start of the fair season from September,” Singh said.

‘Low interest’

However, travel companies say not enough is being done to promote India overseas. “There is low consumer interest in India. There are no marketing, publicity and reputation management efforts on the part of the government,” said Rajeev Kohli, joint managing director of Creative Travel.

“We expect inbound business to pick up by October. With China shut for foreign tourists and the crisis in Sri Lanka, there is a great opportunity for Indian tourism. It will be a costly mistake if we don’t capitalise on it,” said Dipak Deva, managing director of TCI, Thomas Cook’s inbound travel division.

“We need to step up our marketing efforts. The government needs to start issuing e-visas to UK citizens. The UK is a key market for Indian tourism and unless we take these steps we will not see growth,” he added.

Another issue hampering growth, is the high rates of airfares and hotel rents in India, said Rajiv Mehra, president of Indian Association of Tour Operators. “Besides, e-visas are not being issued to the UK and Canadian citizens. We are hopeful that the issues will be addressed in the next 6-8 months,” he added.