Foreign tourist arrivals dipped by 44.5% in 2021: Tourism Ministry report

Due to restrictions related to COVID-19 pandemic, the number of foreign tourist arrivals in India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million, an over 44 per cent fall from the corresponding figures in 2020, according to a report released by the Union Tourism Ministry on Tuesday.

As per the report titled 'India Tourism Statistics 2022' released by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on World Tourism Day at an event here, Taj Mahal in Agra was among the 10 most popular centrally-protected ticketed monuments for domestic visitors in 2021-22, while Group of Monument at Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu ranked on top among the 10 most popular centrally-protected ticketed monuments for domestic visitors for the same period.

India's ranking in the global Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) was 54th in 2021, it said.

Dhankhar also presented the main National Tourism Awards 2018-19 at Vigyan Bhawan here during the event. The annual award ceremony took place after a gap of two years due to the Covid outbreak in India in early 2020.

"Due to restriction related to COVID-19, the number of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India during 2021 decreased to 1.52 million as compared to 2.74 million in 2020, registering a negative growth of 44.5 per cent," the report said.

The Vice President in his address said the last two years were "very tough" due the pandemic and the tourism sector was impacted heavily.

But, in retrospect, one can say that India knows the way, and the country is "out of the difficult period", he said.

The 'India Tourism Statistics 2022' report also said while FTAs experienced a "negative growth rate" in 2021, non-resident Indians (NRIs) and international tourist arrivals (ITAs) experienced "positive growth". Arrivals of NRIs increased by 52.6 per cent from 2020 to 2021. In comparison to 2020, there was a 10.6 per cent increase in yearly international tourist arrivals in India in 2021, it added.

International tourism included both inbound and outbound tourism.

Also, in 2021, the top 15 source markets for FTAs in India were the US, Bangladesh, the UK, Canada, Nepal, Afghanistan, Australia, Germany, Portugal, France, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Russia, Iraq, and the Netherlands. In 2021, the top 15 nations accounted for approximately 80.9 per cent of total FTAs in India, the report stated.

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