PTI
New Delhi
International tourist arrivals (ITAs) in India increased from 1.31 crore in 2014 to 2.06 crore in 2024, registering a growth of 56.93 per cent, the government informed Parliament on Monday.
Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared the data in a written response to a query in Lok Sabha.
Also, according to the latest UN’s World Tourism Barometer, India’s global share of international tourist arrivals has seen an increase from 1.15 per cent in 2014 to 1.41 per cent in 2024, he said.
According to data sourced from UN’s World Tourism Barometer 2026, the ITAs for the top five countries in 2024 stood at – France (102 million), Spain (93.8 million), the US (72.3 million), Turkey (60.6 million) and Italy (57.7 million), the government said in its response.
The government said the Ministry of Tourism maintains the data on ITAs and domestic tourist visits (DTVs) as provided by the Bureau of Immigration (BoI) and states and UTs, respectively.
“The ITAs increased from 1.31 crore in 2014 to 2.06 crore in 2024 registering a growth of 56.93 per cent. Similarly, the DTVs have also increased from 128.28 crore in 2014 to 294.53 crore in 2024 thereby registering a growth of 129.60 per cent,” the minister said .
The data indicates “substantial improvement” in tourist footfall during the last decade.
Further, in the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Travel and Tourism Development Index (TTDI) 2024, India improved its position significantly, ranking 39th globally out of 119 countries (up from 65th in 2013) and holding the first position among SAARC countries, Shekhawat said.
“To conduct comparative assessments and identify structural barriers, the Ministry of Tourism has undertaken a detailed analysis of the TTDI 2024 edition to identify data gaps, methodological limitations, and areas requiring policy and institutional interventions,” he said.
