New Delhi, June 30 (AHN) Despite strong fundamentals, India’s tourism outcomes remain below potential, a NITI Aayog report said on Tuesday, highlighting the need to improve ease of doing business to accelerate investments, while also emphasising the importance of visa facilitation in converting tourism interest into actual arrivals.

India’s tourism sector is significant in terms of economic contribution and employment. In FY 2023–24, the sector contributed Rs 15.73 lakh crore ($170 billion) to India’s GDP, accounting for 5.22 per cent of the total economy, and supported an estimated 84.6 million jobs -- reflecting a 20 per cent increase over five years.

Domestic tourism has been a key driver, with 2.9 billion domestic tourist visits recorded in 2024, surpassing the pre-pandemic peak of 2.3 billion in 2019, said the report, titled ‘Unlocking Growth in Tourism and Hospitality Sector’.

India’s tourism assets are well recognised globally. The country has 44 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 106 national parks, and 18 biosphere reserves, along with established pilgrimage and wellness tourism segments.

International tourism has also recovered in recent years. In 2024, India recorded approximately 20.6 million total international tourist arrivals (including NRIs), with international tourism receipts of approximately $35 billion, reflecting 9 per cent growth from 2023.

However, India accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of global international tourist arrivals, significantly lower than leading economies. While total international arrivals appear robust, the number of foreign tourist arrivals (9.95 million in 2024), provides a more accurate reflection of core tourism demand and remains below pre-pandemic levels, as well as substantially lower than peer destinations such as Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, the report noted.

Tourism-related foreign exchange earnings remain modest relative to India’s scale and diversity. Also, outbound tourism from India has grown rapidly, indicating leakage of domestic demand. Outbound spending by Indian travellers has increased significantly, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by approximately 15 per cent.

“This divergence suggests that while demand for travel is strong, a substantial share is being met through international travel rather than within the domestic tourism ecosystem,” the report stressed, adding that these gaps point to underlying structural constraints that limit India’s ability to convert its tourism assets and demand into realised outcomes.

Rajiv Gauba, Member, NITI Aayog, said that India's tourism sector is uniquely positioned to drive economic growth, employment, and regional development.

“A central finding of the report is that India's tourism challenge lies not in demand or resource availability, but in enabling conditions. Despite strong domestic tourism and significant global interest, outcomes in terms of international arrivals, investment and value realization remain below potential. This gap is driven by regulatory complexity, fragmented institutional processes and procedural inefficiencies,” said Gauba.

The recommendations focus on rationalising regulatory requirements, removing redundancies, enabling risk-based compliance, and improving coordination across government levels. The objective is to create a more efficient and predictable regulatory environment, while maintaining necessary safeguards, he mentioned.

Key measures include streamlining approval processes for tourism enterprises, reducing licensing burdens, improving permit regimes for tourist transport and moving towards a more facilitative visa framework, including Visa-on-Arrival for select segments.

The report also underscores the importance of coordinated implementation through clearly defined institutional responsibilities and phased reform pathways.