Tourism in India - kuchewar

Tourism in India is important for the country’s economy and is growing rapidly. The World Travel and Tourism Council calculated that tourism generated ₹16.91 lakh crore (US$220 billion) or 9.2% of India’s GDP in 2018 and supported 42.673 million jobs, 8.1% of its total employment. The sector is predicted to grow at an annual rate of 6.9% to ₹32.05 lakh crore (US$420 billion) by 2028 (9.9% of GDP). In October 2015, India’s medical tourism sector was estimated to be worth US$3 billion, and it is projected to grow to US$7–8 billion by 2020. In 2014, 184,298 foreign patients travelled to India to seek medical treatment.

Over 17.9 million foreign tourists arrived in India in 2019 compared to 17.4 million in 2018, representing a growth of 3.5%. This makes India the 22nd most visited nation in the world and 8th in Asia and Pacific . Domestic tourist visits to all states and union territories numbered 1,036.35 million in 2012, an increase of 16.5% from 2011. In 2014, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh were the most popular states for tourists. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Agra and Jaipur were the five most visited cities of India by foreign tourists during the year 2015. Worldwide, Delhi is ranked 28th by the number of foreign tourist arrivals, while Mumbai is ranked 30th, Chennai 43rd, Agra 45th, Jaipur 52nd and Kolkata 90th.

The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019 ranked India 35th out of 140 countries overall. India improved its ranking by 6 places over the 2017 report which was the greatest improvement among the top 25% of countries ranked. The report ranks the price competitiveness of India’s tourism sector 13th out of 140 countries. It mentions that India has quite good air transport infrastructure (ranked 33rd), particularly given the country’s stage of development, and reasonable ground and port infrastructure (ranked 28th). The country also scores high on natural resources (ranked 14th), and cultural resources and business travel (ranked 8th). However, some other aspects of its tourism infrastructure remain somewhat underdeveloped. The nation has many hotel rooms per capita by international comparison and low ATM penetration. The World Tourism Organization reported that India’s receipts from tourism during 2012 ranked 16th in the world, and 7th among Asian and Pacific countries.

The Ministry of Tourism designs national policies for the development and promotion of tourism. In the process, the Ministry consults and collaborates with other stakeholders in the sector including various central ministries/agencies, state governments, union territories and private sector representatives. Concerted efforts are being made to promote niche tourism products such as rural, cruise, medical and eco-tourism. The Ministry of Tourism maintains the Incredible India campaign focused on promoting tourism in India.

Visa policy of India

India

Free movement

Visa-free

e-Visa

Visa on arrival

Visa required

Government clearance required in advance

India requires citizens of most countries to hold a valid passport and apply for a travel visa at their local Indian embassy or consulate, before their visit. Travellers can apply directly by mail or in person, or through their local travel services company. India has recently implemented an online method for citizens of 168 countries to apply for an e-Tourist Visa.

Nationals of Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal do not require a travel visa to enter India. Citizens of Afghanistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, DPR Korea, Jamaica, Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, South Africa and Uruguay are not required to pay a fee when obtaining an Indian visa.

A Protected Area Permit (PAP) is required to enter the states of Nagaland and Sikkim and some parts of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Rajasthan and Uttaranchal. A Restricted Area Permit (RAP) is required to enter the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and parts of Sikkim. Special permits are needed to visit the Lakshadweep islands.

e-Tourist Visa

As a measure to boost tourism, the Indian Government implemented a new visa policy in November 2014, allowing tourists and business visitors to obtain a “visa on arrival” at 28 international airports, by acquiring an Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) online before arrival, without having to visit an Indian consulate or visa centre. In April 2015, the “visa on arrival” scheme was renamed “e-Tourist Visa” (or “e-TV”) to avoid confusion.

The e-Tourist Visa facility requires a tourist to apply online on a secure Government of India website, at least four to thirty days before the date of travel. If approved, the visitor must print and carry the approved visa with their travel documents. The visa allows holders of an ETA to enter and stay anywhere in India for a period of ninety days except for citizens of US, UK, Japan and Canada. Citizens of these countries can stay for up to 180 days at a time. an ETA can be obtained twice in a single calendar year.

India first introduced its “visa on arrival” facility on 27 November 2014, to citizens of the following countries: Australia, Brazil, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Djibouti, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Laos, Luxembourg, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Oman, Palau, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu and Vietnam. On 30 July 2015, the facility was extended to China, Macau and Hong Kong. On 15 August 2015, the facility was further extended to citizens of Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Belgium, Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, East Timor, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Jamaica, Malta, Malaysia, Mongolia, Monaco, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Seychelles, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Turks and Caicos Islands, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and Venezuela. The facility should eventually be expanded to about 180 countries.

As a result of the new visa policy, 56,477 tourists arrived on an e-Tourist Visa during October 2015, compared with 2,705 tourist arrivals during October 2014 (just before the facility was introduced), representing a 1987.9% increase. During the period from January to October 2015, a total of 258,182 tourists arrived on an e-Tourist Visa, a 1073.8% increase on the 21,995 tourist arrivals during the same period in 2014 (before the e-Tourist Visa was available).

Statistics

Foreign tourist arrivals and foreign exchange earnings

Foreign tourist arrivals in India (1997–2020)
Year	Arrivals (millions)	% change
1997	2.37	3.8
1998	2.36	−0.7
1999	2.48	5.2
2000	2.65	6.7
2001	2.54	−4.2
2002	2.38	−6.0
2003	2.73	14.3
2004	3.46	26.8
2005	3.92	13.3
2006	4.45	13.5
2007	5.08	14.3
2008	5.28	4.0
2009	5.17	−2.2
2010	5.78	11.8
2011	6.31	9.2
2012	6.58	4.3
2013	6.97	5.9
2014	7.68	10.2
2015	8.03	4.5
2016	8.80	9.7
2017	10.04	14.0
2018	10.56	5.2
2019	10.93	3.5
2020	2.74	-74.9

Foreign exchange earnings from tourism in India (1997–2020)
Year	Earnings (US$ million)	% change	Earnings (₹ crores)	% change
1997	2,889	2.0	10,511	4.6
1998	2,948	2.0	12,150	15.6
1999	3,009	2.1	12,951	6.6
2000	3,460	15	15,626	20.7
2001	3,198	−7.6	15,083	−3.5
2002	3,103	−3.0	15,064	−0.1
2003	4,463	43.8	20,729	37.6
2004	6,170	38.2	27,944	34.8
2005	7,493	21.4	33,123	18.5
2006	8,634	15.2	39,025	17.8
2007	10,729	24.3	44,362	13.7
2008	11,832	10.3	51,294	15.6
2009	11,136	−5.9	53,754	4.8
2010	14,193	27.5	66,172	23.1
2011	16,564	16.7	83,036	25.5
2012	17,737	7.1	95,607	15.1
2013	18,445	4.0	107,563	12.5
2014	20,236	9.7	120,367	11.9
2015	21,071	4.1	134,844	12
2016	22,923	9.1	154,146	14.3
2017	27,310	19.1	177,874	15.4
2018	28,586	4.7	194,881	9.6
2019	30,058	5.1	211,661	8.6
2020	6,958	-76.8	50,136	-76.3

Source countries for foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2019
Rank	Country	Number	Share in %
1	Bangladesh	2,577,727	23.58
2	United States	1,512,032	13.83
3	United Kingdom	1,000,292	9.15
4	Australia	367,241	3.36
5	Canada	351,859	3.22
6	China (mainland)	339,442	3.11
7	Malaysia	334,579	3.06
8	Sri Lanka	330,861	3.03
9	Germany	264,973	2.42
10	Russia	251,319	2.3
Total of top 10		7,330,325	67.06

Foreign and domestic tourist visits by State

Share of top 10 states/UTs of India in number of foreign tourist visits in 2017
Rank	State/Union Territory	Number	Share in %
1	Maharashtra	5,078,514	18.9
2	Tamil Nadu	4,860,455	18.1
3	Uttar Pradesh	3,104,062	13.3
4	Delhi	2,379,169	10.2
5	Rajasthan	1,489,500	6.4
6	West Bengal	1,475,311	6.3
7	Kerala	977,479	4.2
8	Bihar	923,737	4.0
9	Karnataka	636,502	2.7
10	Goa	541,480	2.3
Total of top 10 states		20,620,863	88.4
Others		2,705,300	11.6
Total		23,326,163	100

Share of top 10 states/UTs of India in number of domestic tourist visits in 2017
Rank	State/Union Territory	Number	Share in %
1	Tamil Nadu	345,061,140	20.9
2	Uttar Pradesh	233,977,619	14.2
3	Karnataka	179,980,191	10.9
4	Andhra Pradesh	165,433,898	10.0
5	Maharashtra	119,191,539	7.2
6	Telangana	85,266,596	5.2
7	Madhya Pradesh	78,038,522	4.7
8	West Bengal	79,687,645	4.8
9	Gujarat	48,343,121	2.9
10	Rajasthan	45,916,573	2.8
Total of top 10 states		1,380,896,844	83.6
Others		271,588,513	16.4
Total		1,652,485,357	100

World Heritage Sites

There are 40 World Heritage Sites in India that are recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as of August 2019. These are places of importance of cultural or natural heritage as described in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention, established in 1972.^[31]