India’s Foreign Exchange Earnings Through Tourism Could Reach Pre-Covid Level in 2023

The Covid-19 crisis crippled the tourism sector to great lengths. By incorporating several measures, many struggling nations in every corner of the world tried their level best to keep their tourism levels afloat. While India was no different to such nations, it seems now things are getting back on track, and the country is witnessing a ray of hope. So much so that India’s foreign exchange earnings can witness itself touching the pre-COVID numbers soon. According to a Mint report, in the first four months of 2023, the foreign tourist arrivals in the nation stood at 3.13 million. This is a substantial increase from last year which reportedly witnessed 1.17 million arrivals. However, this rise couldn’t match the foreign tourist arrivals that remained less than 2019 (pre-covid levels), when numbers stood at 2.95 million.

From easing the travel restrictions and vaccination efforts to reopening the international borders here are certain factors that have an impact on this rise in number. The report claimed that during the four-month period, foreign exchange saw a good rise in income through tourism. During the four-month period, the foreign exchange earnings were reportedly at Rs 71,235 crore compared to Rs 23, 584 crore in the same duration in 2022. In case you are wondering, these numbers reportedly reached Rs 2.1 trillion in 2019 through tourism, which was an increase of 8.3 per cent year on year.

As per news Agency PTI, Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy stated that the ministry in a bid to ease the visa regime in the nation, the ministry has been working closely with the home and the external affairs ministries. Not just this, but the minister also revealed that this year during January-April period foreign tourist arrivals reached 79 per cent of the numbers in the same period of 2019. PTI quoted Reddy as saying, “As per provisional data received from (the) Bureau of Immigration, the Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India during January to April 2023, reached 79 per cent of FTAs during the same period in 2019.” Of these, about 21.9 per cent of foreign tourist arrival was reportedly from Bangladesh, followed by the United States with 16.3 per cent, the UK with 10.3 per cent, 5 per cent from Canada, and 4.5 per cent from Australia.