India has Too Few Tourists

In 2017, I wrote an article on India’s underperformance in tourism:

India is one of the most desirable tourist destinations in the world. Thirty-five [now 43, AT!] UNESCO World Heritage sites–among them the Taj Mahal, one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”—attract a global audience. India’s many food, dance and religious cultures are enticing. The widespread availability of English speakers makes India a welcome destination not only for Americans, Canadians and the British but also for many Europeans and others who speak English as a second language. Prices in India are very reasonable for visitors from developed countries.

India has tremendous advantages as a producer of tourism, but its tourism sector is far too small. India is underperforming and in the process giving up tens of billions of dollars in foreign exchange revenue that could lift millions out of poverty.

The Economist concurs noting “a fabulous destination for foreign tourists does little to lure them.” Indeed, India had fewer tourists in 2024 than in 2017. Tunisia attracts more tourists than India! India did improve its visa process, which I complained about in 2017, but it could do much better:

To its credit, the government replaced the onerous process of applying for visas in person with online e-visas. But that was a decade ago and the process remains unpredictable and fiddly; it requires using a website that looks like it was designed during the dot-com boom. Most countries in South-East Asia and the Middle East have slicker sites. Many offer either visas on arrival or visa-free entry.

When I recently visited the UK I entered without being stopped or questioned by a single individual! In contrast, entering India can often take several hours and even with a visa there are forms that have to be filled out for no apparent reason or purpose. Moreover, exiting India is often more time consuming than entering! Yet when I visited India shortly after COVID our tour guide in Bundi was practically in tears as we were the first foreign tourists he had seen in over a year and the money was very welcome.

India should drop its visa requirements for US and European countries entirely and immediately. The tourism industry should be seen as an export industry. Countries go to great lengths to increase exports but India’s government does little to help its tourism industry despite the fact that it’s actually a huge export industry–far bigger than India’s export of pharmaceuticals for example!

Turkey has 55 million tourist visitors a year. That’s 5 times India’s rate which suggests that India could dramatically increase earnings from tourism. More tourists would be great for India and also great for the tourists!

Here is a picture of the fourth tallest statue in the world, in a tiny town in India that no one goes to. Amazing!

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