Maharashtra Beats Goa To Become #1 Tourist Destination For Foreigners; 45% Less Tourists Came To India

India has benefited a lot from being a tourist destination, but the COVID-19 pandemic has affected this scenario gravely. 

There has been a decline of 44.5% in foreign tourist arrivals in the year2021, all thanks to the pandemic and the lockdown that was imposed.

India Tourism Statistics 2022: 1.51 Million Foreign Tourists Visited India In 2021

Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar released the India Tourism Statistics 2022 recently, which gives us insights into the foreign tourist arrivals in India. 

In 2021, foreign tourists that arrived in India were 1.52 million, whereas, the same number in 2020 was 2.74 million. 

The report states that the number of NRIs that arrived in India went up by 52.6% in 2021 as compared to 2020. Also, the same number stood at 10.93 million in 2019. 

The top 15 nations from which foreign tourists arrived in India in 2021 included the United States, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Australia. Last year, these countries accounted for roughly 81% of all foreign visitor arrivals in India.

Plane Travel Most Popular Means Of Transportation

According to the report, plane travel was the most popular means of transportation for foreign tourists, with 87.5% choosing it.

When compared to 2020, the number of Indian nationals leaving the country increased in 2021. In 2021, 8.55 million Indian nationals left the country, a 7.3% rise from 7.29 million in 2020.

In 2021, the UAE was the leading source of INDs, followed by the United States, Qatar, Oman, the United Kingdom, the Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Bahrain, and Kuwait. In 2021, the Top 10 countries accounted for approximately 85.93% of all Indian national departures (INDs). 

In 2021, India received 677.63 million domestic tourist visits, up 11.05 percent from 610.22 million in 2020. Fewer foreign visitors came as a result of global pandemic restrictions. As a result, India received 1.05 million fewer foreign tourists in 2021 than it did in 2020 (7.17 million), a negative 85.29 percent growth rate.

In 2021, India is ranked 54th on the global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI).