Context

• India is a land of extraordinary contrasts and unmatched diversity. Snow-capped mountains, tropical beaches, ancient monuments, and modern cities coexist within one nation, giving it immense tourism potential.
• Yet this richness presents a paradox: despite its scale and appeal, India attracts far fewer foreign tourists than expected.
• With only 5.6 million foreign tourist arrivals by August 2025, India trails significantly behind smaller nations.
• Tourism today is defined not merely by attractions but by the quality of the experience, an area where India must improve to compete globally.

India’s Tourism Performance: A Global Comparison

• A comparison with regional peers reveals India’s weak competitiveness.
• Singapore, despite its small size, attracted more than double India’s foreign tourists, while Thailand earned over $60 billion from tourism revenue.
• These gaps highlight India’s inability to convert assets into sustained economic outcomes.
• In a global market where travellers prioritise ease, comfort, and reliability, India struggles to match the standards set by its neighbours.

The Three Core Challenges: Image, Infrastructure, and India Itself

• Image: The Battle of Perception
  • India’s global perception is often shaped by concerns over safety, especially for women, poor sanitation, scams, and bureaucratic hurdles.
  • While branding campaigns highlight cultural richness, they cannot fully counter negative narratives.
  • Tourists seek reassurance and consistency, qualities that successful destinations carefully cultivate.
  • India’s scale makes a single tourism narrative ineffective. Strategic segmentation offers a solution.
  • Promoting Spiritual India, Adventure India, Luxury India, and Cultural India through clearly defined circuits can help target different global audiences with precision and clarity.
• Infrastructure: The Foundation of Tourist Experience
  • Strong infrastructure is the backbone of tourism. Airports, immigration counters, roads, signage, internet access, and clean public facilities shape first impressions.
  • In India, weak last-mile connectivity, poor signage, and inconsistent maintenance often undermine even premium hospitality offerings.
  • India also faces a cost disadvantage. While perceived as affordable, mid-range and luxury travel can be expensive compared to Southeast Asia.
  • Improving transport, heritage-site upkeep, digital museums, and accessibility is essential for enhancing tourist satisfaction and value for money.
• India Itself: Scale, Service, and Social Challenges
  • India’s vastness can overwhelm visitors. Dense crowds, noise, inconsistent service standards, and the presence of touts and scammers reduce comfort and erode trust.
  • These issues are worsened by a shortage of trained hospitality staff, driven by the lack of professionalisation in tourism careers.
  • Immigration procedures also influence visitor experience. Despite e-visas, India ranks low on ease-of-travel indices.
  • A welcoming approach grounded in openness is vital for projecting confidence and hospitality at points of entry.

Strategies for Reform: Fixing the Tourism Deficit

• Rebranding and Targeted Promotion
  • Tourism branding must shift from generic messaging to focused storytelling using digital platforms, immersive content, and global influencers.
  • Well-marked circuits with strong safety standards should anchor promotion.
• Infrastructure Development
  • Public-private partnerships should support heritage conservation and transport upgrades.
  • Cleanliness, signage, and digital integration must be prioritised nationwide.
• Safety and Skill Development
  • Dedicated tourist police, especially women officers, verified service platforms, and skill training can improve safety and service quality.
• Visa and Immigration Reforms
  • Simplified visa processes, long-term visas for frequent travellers, and courteous border management are essential components of meaningful reform.
• Sustainability and Authenticity
  • Long-term growth requires sustainability. Regulating footfalls, promoting eco-tourism, and empowering local communities will protect fragile cultural and environmental assets.

Tourism as an Economic and Strategic Imperative

• Tourism generates large-scale employment, especially for the unskilled and semi-skilled, driving social inclusion.
• Compared to manufacturing, tourism delivers higher job returns per unit of investment. In regions vulnerable to youth unemployment, tourism can enhance economic stability.
• Policy support, however, remains inadequate.
• Tax structures affecting hospitality reduce profitability and discourage growth, underscoring the need for coherent economic governance.

Conclusion

• India possesses all the ingredients of a global tourism leader, but success depends on refinement, not reinvention.
• Improving image, infrastructure, and experience requires institutional capacity, policy coherence, and national confidence.
• By addressing these fundamentals, India can move from being an attractive idea to a destination the world actively chooses.