Lok Sabha Question No. 1167 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-08
Subject: World Travel Market and FTAs
Ministry: TOURISM
Asked by: Smt. Bag Mitali, Prof. Sougata Ray, Dr. Alok Kumar Suman

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF TOURISM

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1167 ANSWERED ON 08.12.2025

## WORLD TRAVEL MARKET AND FTAs

## 1167. SMT. BAG MITALI:

PROF. SOUGATA RAY:

DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN:

Will the Minister of TOURISM be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the country is participating at World Travel Market with a delegation of stakeholders including State Governments/UT Administrations, inbound tour operators from the Indian travel industry  along  with  IRCTC  to  showcase  India's  vibrant  cultural diversity;

- (b) if so, the details thereof;

- (c) the details of the total number of international tourist arrivals during the period from 2020 to 2025, State/UT-wise especially in West Bengal;

- (d) whether it is a fact that West Bengal has the third highest number of foreign tourists visitor, if so, the details thereof;

- (e) whether India's tourism sector has seen a significant recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, with international tourist arrivals exceeding pre-pandemic levels, if so, the details thereof;

- (f) whether it is a fact that Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) from several major source countries have shown an upward trend, if so, the details thereof;

- (g) the  details  of  top  ten  source  markets  for  FTAs  during  the  last  five years; and

- (h) whether the surge in foreign tourist arrivals has a positive impact on the  Indian  economy,  contributing  significantly  to  foreign  exchange earnings  and  job  creation  in  the  tourism  sector,  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF TOURISM            (SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) to (b): The  Ministry  of  Tourism,  Government  of  India  participated  in World Travel Market (WTM) 2025 held in London from 4 th  till 6 th  November 2025.  The  Ministry  participated  with  a  delegation  of  30  stakeholders including State Governments / Union Territory Administrations, inbound tour operators from the Indian travel industry along with IRCTC to showcase India's  vibrant  cultural  diversity  and  the  range  of  tourism  products  and immersive experiences.

(c) to (d): The details of International Tourist Arrivals (ITAs) during the last five years are as below:

|   Year |   ITAs (in lakh) |
|--------|------------------|
|   2020 |            63.37 |
|   2021 |            70.1  |
|   2022 |           143.3  |
|   2023 |           188.99 |
|   2024 |           205.69 |

Source: Bureau of Immigration

Further,  State/UT-wise  International  Tourist  Arrivals  (ITAs)  are  not available with the Ministry of Tourism. However, State/UT-wise details of the total number of Foreign Tourist Visits during 2020 to 2025, including West Bengal may be seen at Annexure-I.

(e) to (h): The details of International Tourist Arrivals (ITAs) and Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEE) from 2019 to 2024 are as below:

|   Year | ITAs (in lakh)   | FEEs from Tourism in India (in Rs. Crore)   |
|--------|------------------|---------------------------------------------|
|   2019 | 179.14 2,16,467  |                                             |
|   2020 | 63.37 95,738     |                                             |
|   2021 | 70.10            | 63,978                                      |
|   2022 | 143.30           | 1,69,917                                    |
|   2023 | 188.99           | 2,66,045                                    |
|   2024 | 205.69           | 2,93,033 #                                  |

Source: Bureau of Immigration

#: Revised Estimates

The  details  of  Foreign  Tourist  Arrivals  (FTAs)  from  Top  10  source countries from 2020 to 2024 may be seen at Annexure-II.

The Employment scenario in the tourism sector in India for the year 2020-21 to 2023-24 is given below:

| Year    |   Total Number of tourism jobs (in million) |
|---------|---------------------------------------------|
| 2020-21 |                                       68.07 |
| 2021-22 |                                       70.04 |
| 2022-23 |                                       76.17 |
| 2023-24 |                                       84.63 |

Source: Estimates based on periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

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ANNEXURE-I

STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.1167  ANSWERED  ON  08.12.2025  REGARDING  WORLD TRAVEL MARKET & FTAs RAISED BY SMT. BAG MITALI, PROF. SOUGATA RAY AND DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN

State/UT- wise Foreign Tourist Visits (FTVs) during 2020 to 2024 are given below:

| States/UTs                   | 2020     | 2021     | 2022     | 2023      | 2024      |
|------------------------------|----------|----------|----------|-----------|-----------|
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands    | 5,412    | 1,687    | 4,461    | 9,025     | 11,497    |
| Andhra Pradesh               | 67,591   | 27,551   | 1,65,845 | 60,426    | 2,62,431  |
| Arunachal                    | 961      | 182      | 1,055    | 4,496     | 4,714     |
| Pradesh Assam                | 7,285    | 536      | 9,001    | 23,818    | 27,170    |
| Bihar                        | 3,08,080 | 1,046    | 86,829   | 5,46,576  | 7,36,720  |
| Chandigarh                   | 12,218   | 5,451    | 28,439   | 31,498    | 39,058    |
| Chhattisgarh                 | 2,322    | 8        | 238      | 953       | 3,485     |
| Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman & | 1,604    | 185      | 1,791    | 4,048     | 2,626     |
| Diu Delhi                    | 6,81,230 | 1,00,178 | 8,15,713 | 18,28,116 | 19,99,410 |
| Goa                          | 3,02,751 | 22,128   | 1,74,799 | 4,52,692  | 4,67,911  |
| Gujarat                      | 2,10,047 | 11,319   | 17,77,21 | 28,06,871 | 22,74,477 |
| Haryana                      | 17,474   | 4,578    | 5 2,439  | 1,346     | 543       |
| Himachal Pradesh             | 42,665   | 4,932    | 29,333   | 62,806    | 82,765    |
| Jammu & Kashmir              | 5,317    | 1,650    | 19,985   | 55,337    | 65,452    |
| Jharkhand                    | 490      | 1,637    | 1,92,319 | 1,89,261  | 45,273    |
| Karnataka                    | 1,65,325 | 72,487   | 1,28,520 | 4,09,333  | 4,85,204  |
| Kerala                       | 3,40,755 | 60,487   | 3,45,549 | 6,49,057  | 7,38,374  |
| Ladakh                       | 1,126    | 1,054    | 21,259   | 36,315    | 39,704    |
| Lakshadweep                  | 413      | 4        | 125      | 755       | 898       |
| Madhya Pradesh               | 99,819   | 41,601   | 2,04,454 | 1,82,685  | 1,67,535  |
| Maharashtra                  | 12,62,40 | 1,85,643 | 15,11,62 | 33,87,739 | 37,05,170 |
| Manipur                      | 9 3,139  | 648      | 3 3,908  | 3,668     | 2,518     |
| Meghalaya                    | 2,311    | 411      | 7,774    | 20,023    | 23,075    |
| Mizoram                      | 265      | 234      | 2,611    | 3,754     | 5,414     |
| Nagaland                     | 518      | 325      | 2,923    | 4,725     | 5,623     |
| Odisha                       | 10,206   | 2,269    | 22,121   | 45,173    | 87,854    |

| Puducherry    | 92,080    | 321       | 862       | 31,214      | 17,819      |
|---------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------|-------------|
| Punjab        | 3,59,114  | 3,08,135  | 3,29,458  | 7,41,734    | 5,41,784    |
| Rajasthan     | 4,46,457  | 34,806    | 3,96,684  | 16,99,869   | 20,72,407   |
| Sikkim        | 19,935    | 11,508    | 68,645    | 93,908      | 84,820      |
| Tamil Nadu    | 12,28,32  | 57,622    | 4,07,126  | 11,74,899   | 11,61,302   |
| Tripura       | 3 31,877  | 5         | 8,493     | 66,708      | 90,824      |
| Telangana     | 46,694    | 5,917     | 68,401    | 1,60,912    | 1,55,313    |
| Uttar Pradesh | 8,90,932  | 44,737    | 6,48,986  | 16,01,503   | 22,69,067   |
| Uttarakhand   | 41,339    | 8,532     | 61,561    | 1,43,027    | 1,39,375    |
| West Bengal   | 4,63,285  | 34,828    | 10,37,01  | 27,06,942   | 31,24,462   |
| Total         | 71,71,769 | 10,54,642 | 85,87,562 | 1,92,41,212 | 2,09,42,074 |

Source: State/UT Tourism Departments **********

ANNEXURE-II STATEMENT IN REPLY TO PARTS (e) TO (h) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.1167  ANSWERED  ON  08.12.2025  REGARDING  WORLD TRAVEL MARKET & FTAs RAISED BY SMT. BAG MITALI, PROF. SOUGATA RAY AND DR. ALOK KUMAR SUMAN

Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) from Top 10 source countries during 2020 to 2024

|   S. No. | Country         | 2020     | 2021     | 2022      | 2023      | 2024      |
|----------|-----------------|----------|----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|        1 | United 3,94,092 | 4,29,860 |          | 14,03,399 | 16,91,498 | 18,04,586 |
|        2 | Bangladesh      | 5,49,273 | 2,40,554 | 12,77,557 | 21,19,826 | 17,50,165 |
|        3 | United Kingdom  | 2,91,874 | 1,64,143 | 6,41,051  | 9,20,591  | 10,22,587 |
|        4 | Australia       | 86,758   | 33,864   | 3,76,898  | 4,56,167  | 5,18,205  |
|        5 | Canada          | 1,22,868 | 80,437   | 2,89,259  | 3,85,938  | 4,76,273  |
|        6 | Malaysia        | 69,897   | 6,628    | 1,26,192  | 2,62,458  | 3,07,526  |
|        7 | Sri Lanka       | 68,646   | 25,989   | 1,83,459  | 2,80,327  | 2,81,827  |
|        8 | Germany         | 72,558   | 33,772   | 1,41,425  | 2,23,575  | 2,56,348  |
|        9 | France          | 74,243   | 30,374   | 1,20,282  | 1,88,981  | 2,06,855  |
|       10 | Singapore       | 33,747   | 13,407   | 1,32,668  | 1,83,772  | 2,05,383  |

Source: Bureau of Immigration

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